A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Is Currensea A Debit Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, however the free strategy 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 for free or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not truly desire or require
add charges, restrictions or fees to the function that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is Currensea A Debit 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 little 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 charge card offering 0% forex costs, then you do not require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ options which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very 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, globally).
Your current account bank automatically confirms that you have sufficient money 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% cost if you have the complimentary card. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notification 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. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is just about to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea guarantees huge savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
But I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this indicates is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the extra step. But that does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, 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 Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Vital Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, full details can be found on our rates plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription fee also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Is Currensea A Debit Card