A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Can 2 People Share A Currensea Card…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-priced method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
add a growing number of features which your existing customers do not truly desire or require
add restrictions, charges or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic 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? Can 2 People Share A Currensea Card
It is a 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% cost.
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% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide 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 charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely basic process. 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 automatically validates 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 free card, adds a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic invest notification via the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I chose to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to take place (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards assures huge savings (85%) and a great app.
However I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this suggests is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking money and the extra step. But that does not suggest it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the awful 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 Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make profits from our Important Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Can 2 People Share A Currensea Card