A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Card Billing Address…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-cost way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to request, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, but the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or less expensive than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing customers do not actually desire or need
add charges, constraints or costs to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Billing Address
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, 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, globally).
Your bank account bank immediately confirms that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. adds a 0.5% charge if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic spend notice via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
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 taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees big savings (85%) and a great app.
I think the best bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of cash and the extra step. That does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the ugly 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 Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income 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 free amount on all our plans, full information can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card Billing Address