A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Card Dubai…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an affordable method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is drawn from your current account– simply without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competition
add a growing number of features which your existing customers do not really need or want
add constraints, charges or costs to the function that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is basic 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 Dubai
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current 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 fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very easy procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank instantly verifies that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the totally free card. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
However transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is practically to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea guarantees huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the finest bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional step. But that does not suggest it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Important Strategy 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 complimentary amount on all our plans, full details can be found on our rates strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Dubai