A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Deals…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an affordable 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 between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is drawn from your current account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to look for, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating 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 one thing well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
add more and more functions which your existing consumers do not really require or want
add constraints, charges or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is easy 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 Deals
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (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% forex fees, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX costs are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really simple 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 immediately verifies that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% cost. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notice via the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current 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 reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
However transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is almost to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the best bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of money and the extra step. That does not suggest it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make earnings from our Important Plan whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Card Deals