A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Add Currensea Card To Apple Pay…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-priced method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– simply without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which likewise assists.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not actually desire or require
add charges, limitations or charges 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 ideally stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Add Currensea Card To Apple Pay
It is a free 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 company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you do not need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work 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 confirms that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic spend notification through the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think 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 money you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of cash and the extra action. But that does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Essential Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our plans, full information can be discovered on our prices plans.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee likewise eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Add Currensea Card To Apple Pay