A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Sign Up Offer…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an affordable way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing customers don’t truly require or desire
add charges, fees or restrictions to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are currently 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 Sign Up Offer
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no charges and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, 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 work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really easy procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank instantly confirms that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal 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% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated invest notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea guarantees big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I believe the best 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 worry about lacking money and the extra step. But that does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make revenue from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, full information can be found on our rates plans.
Membership charges.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Sign Up Offer