A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Are There Any Charges For Using Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-priced method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which also helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
include a growing number of features which your existing customers don’t really need or want
add charges, constraints or costs to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Are There Any Charges For Using Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline 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 need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use 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 little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire 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 save them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely simple process. 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 automatically confirms that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
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% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated spend notification through the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash 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 few days later:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea guarantees big savings (85%) and a great app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the additional action. That does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make revenue from our Essential Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our rates strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Are There Any Charges For Using Currensea Card