A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Second Card…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an affordable way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– simply without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competitors
add increasingly more functions which your existing consumers do not really require or desire
include restrictions, charges or charges to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic 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 Second Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees 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 affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really easy process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank instantly validates that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated spend alert via the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is practically to occur (often in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the best bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of cash and the additional action. But that does not indicate it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make income from our Essential Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our prices plans.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Second Card