A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. What Countries Can I Use My Currensea Card…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you an affordable way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to request, which also assists.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more functions which your existing clients do not really desire or need
include charges, charges or constraints to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? What Countries Can I Use My Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly 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 using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX costs are few and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps 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 charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really 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 automatically validates that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 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 couple of days later on:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises big 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 savings account.
What this implies is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the extra step. However that does not mean 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 Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make revenue from our Important Plan whilst remaining more affordable 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, full information can be found on our prices strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. What Countries Can I Use My Currensea Card