A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Bank…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (providing you an affordable way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current 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 drawn from your current account– simply without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which also helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
add a growing number of functions which your existing consumers do not truly need or want
include charges, restrictions or costs to the function that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently 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? Currensea Bank
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 …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX costs are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs 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 costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very basic process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank immediately validates that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal 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. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notice through the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to take place (often in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully recently a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards assures big savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of cash and the extra action. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Important Plan whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our plans, complete details can be found on our pricing plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Bank