A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Office…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– simply without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to obtain, which also helps.
There are likewise some fascinating travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competitors
add increasingly more functions which your existing clients do not really need or desire
include limitations, charges or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Office
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options 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 don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire 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 charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very simple procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank immediately verifies that you have adequate 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% charge if you have the free card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your current 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 reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
But converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is almost to take place (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this implies 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 indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, 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 small FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make profits from our Vital Strategy whilst remaining 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 pricing strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time 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 charged to you. Currensea Office