A new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Review Martin Lewis…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to spend 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. You simply invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competitors
include increasingly more functions which your existing clients do not truly want or require
include fees, charges or constraints to the function that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple 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 Review Martin Lewis
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want a product 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 charge beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a very simple procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank automatically confirms 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. If you have the totally free card, includes a 0.5% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic invest notification by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
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 shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
But transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to take place (often in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily in recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards guarantees big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the finest bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of money and the extra step. That does not suggest it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make revenue from our Important Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our plans, complete details can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Review Martin Lewis