A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Sidemen Credit Card Currensea…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you an inexpensive way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, 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 simply spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is drawn from your current account– simply without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, however the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
add more and more features which your existing clients do not truly want or require
include restrictions, fees or charges to the feature that made people 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. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Sidemen Credit Card Currensea
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (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 fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, charge card which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very basic procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank immediately validates that you have enough money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. adds a 0.5% charge if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated spend notification through the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is practically to take place (often in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures big cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
But I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of cash and the additional action. That does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly 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 Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Important Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, full details can be found on our rates strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Sidemen Credit Card Currensea