A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Is Currensea Free…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you an affordable way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competitors
add more and more functions which your existing consumers do not actually desire or need
add limitations, charges or charges to the function that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is Currensea Free
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely simple procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank automatically confirms that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the totally free card, includes a 0.5% cost. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notification by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
However converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is almost to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully recently a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional action. However that does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make income from our Essential Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our strategies, complete information can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Is Currensea Free