A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Exchange Rate Vs Credit Card…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (providing you a low-priced method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to get, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, however the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
add a growing number of features which your existing customers don’t truly require or desire
include charges, costs or limitations to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process 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 club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Exchange Rate Vs Credit Card
It is a totally free 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 do not (yet …) earn 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 costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very 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 adequate cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated spend alert through the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 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 few days later:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to take place (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea assures big savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
However I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of cash and the extra step. But that does not suggest it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make income from our Necessary Plan whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Membership charges.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Exchange Rate Vs Credit Card