A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Is Currensea Legit…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an inexpensive method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to obtain, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the totally free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or more affordable than the competitors
include a growing number of functions which your existing customers do not actually require or want
add costs, charges or limitations to the function 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 hopefully stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is simple 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? Is Currensea Legit
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire 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 earlier, a very simple process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank automatically verifies that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the free card, includes a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated spend alert by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 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:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is practically to occur (often in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea assures big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking money and the additional action. However that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make revenue from our Essential Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, full information can be discovered on our rates plans.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription fee also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Is Currensea Legit