A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. My Currensea Card Has Arrived…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you a low-priced method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to make an application for, which likewise assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you select a paid plan, but the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or less expensive than the competitors
add more and more functions which your existing consumers don’t actually require or want
include charges, constraints or charges to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is simple 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? My Currensea Card Has Arrived
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely 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, globally).
Your current account bank automatically verifies that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the free card, includes a 0.5% charge. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice through the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
However transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to take place (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea assures huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking money and the extra step. That does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make profits from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our pricing plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. My Currensea Card Has Arrived