A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. How To Get Money From Cheque Currensea Card…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-cost way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– simply without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, but the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competitors
add more and more functions which your existing customers do not really need or want
include charges, constraints or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How To Get Money From Cheque Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex costs, then you do not require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make , 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond , 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely simple process. You utilize 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 enough 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. adds a 0.5% charge if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated invest alert by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later on.
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 reveals , 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
But converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to take place (often in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately recently a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards promises huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of money and the extra step. But that does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Important Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, complete information can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of , 25 for our Premium Plan, and , 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. How To Get Money From Cheque Currensea Card