A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Card Mauritius…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you a low-cost way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your present account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to request, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some fascinating travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the totally free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competition
add more and more features which your existing customers do not really desire or require
add charges, charges or limitations to the function that made people 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 stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Mauritius
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely easy procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank automatically verifies that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal 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% fee. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a couple of 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 shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
However transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is practically to take place (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t 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 terrific cards Currensea promises big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less fret about running out of cash and the extra step. However that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make profits from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper 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, complete details can be found on our rates strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Card Mauritius