A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Can I Use Currensea Card In Greece…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you an affordable method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to look for, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or less expensive than the competition
include increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not truly desire or need
include costs, charges or restrictions to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Phase 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? Can I Use Currensea Card In Greece
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex costs, then you do not need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make , 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and just 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 anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really basic process. 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 instantly confirms that you have sufficient money 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 free card, adds a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest alert via 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 journal, 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 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is practically to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily recently a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards promises big savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of cash and the additional step. However that does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make profits from our Essential Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, complete information can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of , 25 for our Premium Strategy, and , 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Can I Use Currensea Card In Greece