A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Can You Use Currensea Card In Shops…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– just without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which also assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competitors
add increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not really need or want
include charges, costs or constraints to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can You Use Currensea Card In Shops
It is a totally 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% charge.
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 credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit 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 monthly with no charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want 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 money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely basic procedure. You utilize 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 verifies that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest notification by means of 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. Without any 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 reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is practically to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking money and the additional action. But that does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the awful 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 Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make income from our Vital Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, full information can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Can You Use Currensea Card In Shops