A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to request, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or less expensive than the competitors
include more and more functions which your existing clients don’t truly need or want
include constraints, charges or fees to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Phase 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
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you want an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody 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 said previously, a very basic process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank automatically confirms that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% cost if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest notice through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I decided to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
However transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to happen (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea guarantees big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking cash and the extra step. But that does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make revenue from our Vital Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, full details can be found on our pricing plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend 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