A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Doesn T Work…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– simply without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competitors
add more and more functions which your existing consumers don’t actually desire or require
include fees, charges or restrictions to the function that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Phase 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 Doesn T Work
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a very simple process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank automatically validates 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. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the totally free card. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notification by means of the app, if you pick 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 sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
But converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures big cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of money and the extra action. But that does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make earnings from our Vital Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our plans, complete details can be found on our rates plans.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Doesn T Work