A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Is Currensea Travel Card Free…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You just invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– simply without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which also assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or less expensive than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not actually require or want
add charges, constraints or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is Currensea Travel Card Free
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which use rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very basic process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank instantly validates that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest alert through 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 chose to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately recently a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards assures big savings (85%) and a great app.
But I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of cash and the additional action. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make profits from our Vital Plan whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be found on our rates plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Is Currensea Travel Card Free