A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Top Up My Currensea Card…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (providing you an affordable method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which also helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
add a growing number of features which your existing consumers don’t really want or require
add charges, restrictions or costs to the function that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve 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? Top Up My Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company 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 don’t need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, charge card which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per 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 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 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 immediately validates that you have sufficient 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% cost if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated spend notice through the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, 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 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is practically to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Do not 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 excellent cards Currensea assures big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
I believe the finest bit might 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 worry about running out of cash and the extra step. But that does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make income from our Essential Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, complete information can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Top Up My Currensea Card