A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. How To Use Currensea Without A Card…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-priced way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to get, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use 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 free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
add more and more features which your existing consumers don’t actually want or require
include charges, constraints or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How To Use Currensea Without A Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges 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 utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really simple procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank automatically validates that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic invest notice by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided 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 couple of days later:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is practically to happen (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully in recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards assures big savings (85%) and a great app.
However I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this means is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less fret about running out of cash and the extra action. That does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
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 income from our Vital Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our strategies, full information can be found on our pricing plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge likewise eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. How To Use Currensea Without A Card