A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Is A Currensea Card Contactless…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which likewise assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, but the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
add increasingly more features which your existing clients do not truly require or desire
add charges, constraints or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Phase 3 …
is simple 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? Is A Currensea Card Contactless
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX costs are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a really easy procedure. You utilize 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 validates that you have adequate money 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 free card, adds a 0.5% fee. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
However converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately in recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional action. That does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Important Plan whilst remaining much cheaper 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 plans, complete details can be discovered on our rates plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Is A Currensea Card Contactless