A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. What Does Currensea Card Do…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-priced way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is drawn from your current account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company 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 competition
add a growing number of features which your existing clients do not actually need or desire
include charges, charges or constraints to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is easy 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? What Does Currensea Card Do
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product 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 cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really easy procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank automatically verifies that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% cost. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated invest alert via the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and purchase 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:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to take place (often in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of money and the extra action. However that does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Important Plan whilst staying 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 strategies, complete information can be discovered on our rates plans.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. What Does Currensea Card Do