A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Is The Currensea Premium Card Plastic…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-cost method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which also helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competitors
add increasingly more features which your existing customers don’t really require or want
include constraints, charges or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is The Currensea Premium Card Plastic
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any charges and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very simple procedure. You use 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 immediately verifies that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic spend alert through the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and purchase 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 couple of days later:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is practically to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific 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 suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less fret about running out of money and the extra step. That does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make revenue from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our plans, complete information can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Is The Currensea Premium Card Plastic