A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Virtual 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 simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to request, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service 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 a growing number of features which your existing clients don’t actually require or want
add costs, restrictions or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Virtual Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly 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 utilize abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very easy process. 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 immediately validates that you have sufficient 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. If you have the free card, includes a 0.5% charge. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest alert through the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is just about to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I believe the best bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the extra action. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the awful 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 Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Necessary 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 totally free amount on all our plans, complete details can be discovered on our prices plans.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Virtual Card