A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Or Revolut…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-priced method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits 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 money is taken from your bank account– just without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or less expensive than the competitors
add a growing number of functions which your existing clients don’t truly want or require
add charges, restrictions or fees to the function that made people get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Or Revolut
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely basic procedure. 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 bank account bank immediately validates that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the free card, includes a 0.5% fee. There are no fees if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notice via the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash 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:.
But converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to happen (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea assures huge cost savings (85%) and a great 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 current account with less stress over running out of money and the extra step. That does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make profits from our Necessary 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 information can be found on our prices strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription fee also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Or Revolut