A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Cash Machine…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an affordable way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which also assists.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, however the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
add a growing number of functions which your existing consumers don’t truly want or need
add restrictions, charges or costs to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple 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? Currensea Card Cash Machine
It is a totally 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 …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really easy procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank automatically confirms that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated invest notification via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose 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 on:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is just about to take place (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea promises big cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this indicates is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of cash and the extra action. That does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make earnings from our Important Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our plans, complete information can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Cash Machine