A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Can I Use My Currensea Card In Argentina…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to spend abroad) however 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 bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to request, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, but the totally free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competitors
include more and more features which your existing customers don’t actually need or desire
add restrictions, charges or charges to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can I Use My Currensea Card In Argentina
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically recharges 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 wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially 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 specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and just 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 needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very 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, internationally).
Your bank account bank instantly confirms that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon 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 via 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 decided to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
But I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking money and the additional action. However that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make income from our Essential Plan 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 totally free amount on all our plans, complete details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Can I Use My Currensea Card In Argentina