A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Credit Card Uk…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable method 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 in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is drawn from your current account– simply without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to get, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some fascinating travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or less expensive than the competition
add more and more functions which your existing customers do not actually need or desire
add charges, costs or restrictions to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Phase 3 …
is easy 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? Currensea Credit Card Uk
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you do not need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives 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 do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact 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 each month without any charges and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really basic procedure. 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 bank account bank instantly confirms 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. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the totally free card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notification via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 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 couple of days later:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this means is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional step. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, 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 small FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make earnings from our Important Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, complete information can be found on our rates plans.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Credit Card Uk