A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Can I Top Up Currensea With A Credit Card…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to obtain, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or cheaper than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not actually require or desire
add charges, restrictions or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is easy 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 Top Up Currensea With A Credit Card
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, charge card which offer benefits and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly 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 utilize abroad
you want a product 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 fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really easy process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank instantly validates that you have enough 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 complimentary card, includes a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated invest notice by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to happen (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking cash and the additional action. That does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Important Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be found on our prices plans.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly membership charge 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 receive a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Can I Top Up Currensea With A Credit Card