A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. How Can I Transfer Money To My Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (offering you an affordable method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your present account– just without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you select a paid plan, but the totally free 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 something well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
include a growing number of features which your existing clients don’t truly require or desire
add fees, charges or restrictions to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple 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? How Can I Transfer Money To My Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically 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 credit card offering 0% forex fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs 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 credit card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which permits you to make , 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond , 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely basic process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank automatically validates that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the complimentary card. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification through the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to splash 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 couple of days later on:.
But transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards 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 bank account.
What this means is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less fret about lacking cash and the extra action. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make revenue from our Essential Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our plans, full information can be found on our pricing strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual membership fee of , 25 for our Premium Strategy, and , 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge likewise eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. How Can I Transfer Money To My Currensea Card