A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Terms And Conditions…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you an affordable way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– simply without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which also assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, but the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have 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 customers don’t truly want or require
include fees, restrictions or charges to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Terms And Conditions
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, charge card which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges 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 charges in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
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, globally).
Your current account bank instantly confirms 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 free card, includes a 0.5% charge. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest alert through the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few 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 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is almost to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards assures huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking money and the additional action. However that does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make earnings from our Necessary Plan whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our strategies, complete information can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Terms And Conditions