A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Can You Use A Currensea Card In Mexico…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic 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 typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which also helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
add more and more functions which your existing customers don’t really want or require
include restrictions, fees or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Phase 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 You Use A Currensea Card In Mexico
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex fees, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use 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 charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very simple procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank instantly confirms that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction 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% cost. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend alert via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 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 couple of days later:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is almost to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards promises huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this suggests is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of money and the extra action. That does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, 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 nominal FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make revenue from our Important Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our strategies, complete information can be found on our rates plans.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Can You Use A Currensea Card In Mexico