A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Why Does My Currensea Card Keep Declining…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an inexpensive method to invest 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. You simply spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
include a growing number of features which your existing customers do not actually want or need
add charges, restrictions or charges to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Why Does My Currensea Card Keep Declining
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you do not require a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very simple procedure. 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 immediately verifies that you have sufficient 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. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic spend alert through the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 couple of days later:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea assures huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less fret about lacking money and the extra action. That does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Essential 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 amount on all our strategies, full details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Why Does My Currensea Card Keep Declining