A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Can I Get A Currensea Card In The Philippines…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent 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 an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
include more and more features which your existing customers don’t truly need or want
include costs, constraints or charges to the function 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 remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Phase 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 I Get A Currensea Card In The Philippines
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately 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 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 want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives 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 do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to affect 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 monthly with no costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely simple procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank instantly validates that you have enough money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to sprinkle out and purchase 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 on:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to happen (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea assures big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of money and the additional action. That does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make earnings from our Essential Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our plans, complete details can be found on our prices plans.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Can I Get A Currensea Card In The Philippines