A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Where Can Currensea Card Be Used…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive 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 in between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– just without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or more affordable than the competitors
add more and more features which your existing clients do not actually require or desire
include charges, restrictions or charges to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is easy 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? Where Can Currensea Card Be Used
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline 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 don’t need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which use a partial solution 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 credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish 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 without any costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really simple procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
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 on the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated invest notice via the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
However transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to take place (often in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the 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 current account with less worry about lacking cash and the extra action. That does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make profits from our Important Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our plans, complete information can be found on our prices strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription fee also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Where Can Currensea Card Be Used