A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Martin Lewis…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you an affordable method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy 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 typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which also helps.
There are likewise some fascinating travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
add more and more features which your existing consumers do not actually want or need
include charges, limitations or charges to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Martin Lewis
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you do not require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS possibly 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 credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash 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 local currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank instantly verifies that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. adds 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 automated invest alert through the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
But transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to occur (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately in recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees huge savings (85%) and a great app.
I believe the finest bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking cash and the extra step. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make earnings from our Important Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Martin Lewis