A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Remove Card From Currensea…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-cost way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You just spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– simply without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which also assists.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary 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 less expensive than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing clients do not actually need or want
add charges, constraints or costs to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Remove Card From Currensea
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 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 credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which use benefits and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card 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 want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very simple process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank instantly confirms that you have adequate 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% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest notice through the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is practically to occur (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However 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 invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the extra step. That does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make earnings from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our plans, full details can be found on our pricing plans.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Remove Card From Currensea