A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Is There A Limit On Currensea Card…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you an affordable way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
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 merely invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is drawn from your bank account– simply without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which also helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competition
add more and more features which your existing clients do not truly require or desire
add restrictions, charges or fees to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is There A Limit On Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very 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, worldwide).
Your bank account bank instantly confirms that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the totally free card. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend alert by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 arranged 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 daylight burglary that is almost to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises huge savings (85%) and a terrific app.
However I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of cash and the additional step. However that does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make profits from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our strategies, complete information can be found on our rates plans.
Membership charges.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Is There A Limit On Currensea Card