A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. My Currensea Card Is Blocked…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you an affordable way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, but the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competitors
add a growing number of functions which your existing customers don’t really want or need
add restrictions, charges or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? My Currensea Card Is Blocked
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (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% forex fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, charge card which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really basic process. You utilize 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 immediately verifies that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic spend alert through the app, if you select to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose 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 few days later:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is almost to take place (often in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises huge savings (85%) and a great app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of money and the extra step. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make income from our Essential Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, complete information can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. My Currensea Card Is Blocked