A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Is Currensea Standard Card Good…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (offering you an affordable way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to obtain, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or less expensive than the competition
add more and more features which your existing consumers don’t actually need or desire
add constraints, charges or fees to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is Currensea Standard Card Good
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you want a product which permits 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 fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really easy process. You use 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 confirms that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% charge. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated invest alert by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few days later.
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 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to take place (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion fees happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea assures huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of money and the extra step. However that does not imply it is ideal.
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 profits from our Essential Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Is Currensea Standard Card Good