A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Putting Money On Currensea Card…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-cost method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to obtain, which also assists.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
include a growing number of functions which your existing consumers do not actually desire or require
add limitations, charges or costs to the function that made individuals 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. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Putting Money On Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline 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 need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want 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 conserve them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely easy procedure. 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 bank account bank instantly validates that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% cost. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notice via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is almost to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards promises big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the best bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of cash and the extra step. That does not indicate it is ideal.
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 Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make earnings from our Important Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our pricing plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Putting Money On Currensea Card