A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Rainbow Card Currensea…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method 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. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which also assists.
There are likewise some fascinating travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competition
add more and more functions which your existing clients do not really need or want
include costs, charges or limitations to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is easy 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? Rainbow Card Currensea
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
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 credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which provide benefits and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly 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 credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any charges and just a minimal 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 requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very easy process. You utilize 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 automatically verifies 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 upon the currency. adds a 0.5% charge if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated invest notice by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is practically to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately in recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises big cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I think the best bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the extra action. However that does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly 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 Vital Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make earnings from our Vital Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our rates plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Rainbow Card Currensea