A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Rates…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you an inexpensive way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which also helps.
There are likewise some fascinating travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competition
add increasingly more functions which your existing customers don’t actually want or need
add costs, charges or limitations to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Rates
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing 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 free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you want an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product 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 operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very simple process. You utilize 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 immediately 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 free card, includes a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated invest notice by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 couple of days later:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea assures big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank 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. However that does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, full information can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Rates