A new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Can I Use My Currensea Card In Poland…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (offering you an inexpensive method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
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 just invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to request, which also helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more features which your existing customers don’t truly want or need
add charges, charges or limitations 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 process and will ideally stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can I Use My Currensea Card In Poland
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs 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 affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, 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, worldwide).
Your current account bank immediately confirms that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. adds a 0.5% cost if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated spend notice by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no 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 reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards assures big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this indicates is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the additional action. That does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make earnings from our Essential Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our plans, full information can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription fee likewise eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Can I Use My Currensea Card In Poland