A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Can I Use My Currensea Card In Switzerland…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an inexpensive way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to get, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, but the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or more affordable than the competitors
include more and more features which your existing customers do not really need or desire
include fees, charges or limitations to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can I Use My Currensea Card In Switzerland
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated 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 bank account bank instantly confirms 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 free card, includes a 0.5% cost. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notification via the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose 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:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is practically to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily recently a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises big savings (85%) and a great app.
However I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less fret about lacking money and the additional action. That does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make profits from our Necessary Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full information can be discovered on our prices plans.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription fee also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Can I Use My Currensea Card In Switzerland