A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Card Security…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (offering you an affordable method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to obtain, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
add increasingly more features which your existing customers don’t actually require or desire
add charges, constraints or charges to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is basic 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 Security
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer 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 credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires 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 earlier, an extremely basic process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank automatically verifies that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% charge. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest alert through the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few 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 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is practically to take place (often in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards guarantees big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the extra step. But that does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make profits from our Essential Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, complete information can be found on our rates plans.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Card Security