A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. How To Block Currensea Card…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, 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 just spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to look for, which also assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, however the complimentary plan 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 totally free or more affordable than the competition
include increasingly more features which your existing customers don’t truly need or want
add constraints, fees or charges to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, curve and revolut are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How To Block Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately 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 charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really simple process. You use 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 automatically validates that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated spend notification through the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no 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 shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to occur (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises big cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
However I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the extra action. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make revenue from our Vital Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our rates strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. How To Block Currensea Card