A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Is The Currensea Card A Debit Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an affordable method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, 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 merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to look for, which likewise helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you select a paid plan, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
include a growing number of functions which your existing customers do not actually want or need
add charges, charges or constraints to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay 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 The Currensea Card A Debit Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
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 credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which provide benefits and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and just 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 needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very easy procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank immediately validates that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% cost if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic invest alert via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn 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 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 on:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is almost to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully recently a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards assures huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less fret about running out of cash and the additional action. That does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, 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 nominal FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make income from our Important Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be discovered on our rates plans.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Is The Currensea Card A Debit Card