A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Top Up Card Currensea…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method 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. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your present account– just without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
add more and more features which your existing consumers don’t actually desire or need
add charges, constraints or costs to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Top Up Card Currensea
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
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% foreign exchange fees, then you do not require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX costs are few and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very 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 current account bank instantly verifies that you have sufficient 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% charge if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated spend alert via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
But converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately recently a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards promises big savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of money and the additional action. However that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review 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 small FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make revenue from our Necessary Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, complete information can be found on our pricing strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Top Up Card Currensea