A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Do You Get Charged To Pay On Currensea Card Abroad…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-priced method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You just spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– simply without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not actually need or want
include charges, costs or constraints to the function 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 hopefully stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Do You Get Charged To Pay On Currensea Card Abroad
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely 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 automatically validates that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated invest notification by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to splash 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 on:.
But converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the finest 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 bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional action. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make earnings from our Vital Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, full details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Do You Get Charged To Pay On Currensea Card Abroad