A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Silver Card…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you an inexpensive way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to look for, which likewise assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
include a growing number of functions which your existing clients do not actually need or desire
add charges, limitations or fees to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is simple 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 Silver Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make 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 charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX costs are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a really basic procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank immediately verifies that you have sufficient cash 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. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic invest alert by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, 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:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
But 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 cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of cash and the extra step. That does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make profits from our Necessary Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be discovered on our rates strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Silver Card