A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Can I Use Currensea To Pay Credit Card…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-cost method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is drawn from your bank account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which also assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, however the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competition
add more and more functions which your existing clients do not really need or desire
include charges, charges or constraints to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can I Use Currensea To Pay Credit Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, charge card which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ options which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely 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, worldwide).
Your bank account bank automatically validates that you have enough 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. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated spend notification by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose 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:.
However transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is practically to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this indicates is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of money and the additional action. However that does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea review 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 Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make earnings from our Essential Strategy whilst staying 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 amount on all our plans, complete information can be found on our prices plans.
Membership charges.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Can I Use Currensea To Pay Credit Card