A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Do I Get A Free Currensea Card…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-priced method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your present account– simply without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which likewise assists.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competitors
include more and more features which your existing customers don’t truly require or desire
add charges, constraints or charges to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Do I Get A Free Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges 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 credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a really simple process. You use 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 instantly verifies 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 on the currency. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated invest notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, 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 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to happen (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this indicates is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less fret about running out of money and the extra action. However that does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the ugly 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 Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make profits from our Essential Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our strategies, full information can be found on our pricing strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Do I Get A Free Currensea Card