A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Withdrawing Cash From Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– simply without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, however the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or cheaper than the competition
include a growing number of features which your existing customers do not truly desire or require
add charges, charges or restrictions to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, curve and revolut 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? Withdrawing Cash From Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a charge 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 cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really basic procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank instantly verifies that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the totally free card, adds a 0.5% cost. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
But transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this indicates is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking cash and the extra step. That does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make profits from our Vital Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our strategies, complete information can be found on our prices strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Withdrawing Cash From Currensea Card