A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Google Pay…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you an affordable way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple 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 bank 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 usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which also helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary strategy 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 free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not truly need or desire
add fees, restrictions or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Google Pay
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
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 charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX charges are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide a partial solution 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 credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product 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 save them money when travelling.
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 regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank immediately confirms that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any 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 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is almost to take place (often in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately in recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this means is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking cash and the additional step. However that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the unsightly 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 Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make profits from our Essential Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, full details can be discovered on our rates strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Google Pay