A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Using Currensea Card In Lisbon…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-priced way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy 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 absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is drawn from your bank account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to request, which also helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, but the totally free strategy 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 less expensive than the competitors
add more and more functions which your existing consumers don’t really need or desire
include charges, fees or constraints to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Using Currensea Card In Lisbon
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
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 charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you do not require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really easy procedure. You use 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 confirms that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% cost if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated spend notice via the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
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 reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
But transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is just about to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea promises big savings (85%) and a great app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking money and the extra action. That does not suggest it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make revenue from our Essential Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our plans, full information can be discovered on our rates plans.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Using Currensea Card In Lisbon