A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Lost Card…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-priced method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple 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 current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– simply without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which also helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, however the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing clients don’t really need or want
include charges, limitations or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Stage 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 Lost Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
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 credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you want 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 little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely basic procedure. You utilize 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 automatically validates that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction 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. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic spend notice through the app, if you select to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, 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 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is practically 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 started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards promises huge savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking money and the additional action. However that does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can decide.
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, permitting us to make revenue from our Important 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 free quantity on all our plans, complete details can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Lost Card