A new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Free Currensea Card 2021…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an affordable way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which also assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, but the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or less expensive than the competitors
add more and more features which your existing customers don’t really need or want
add restrictions, charges or charges to the function that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Free Currensea Card 2021
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
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 credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which use a partial option 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 fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item 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 operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely basic process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank automatically validates that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the free card. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notification via the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn 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 couple of days later on:.
However converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to occur (often in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully in recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards assures huge 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 savings account.
What this means is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking money and the additional step. However that does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make income from our Important Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our plans, full details can be discovered on our prices plans.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Free Currensea Card 2021