A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. What Is Currensea Card Good For…
It has won a few awards over current 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, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your present account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to obtain, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
include more and more functions which your existing consumers do not really desire or require
add charges, fees or constraints to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is easy 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? What Is Currensea Card Good For
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which provide benefits and charge 0% FX charges are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very simple procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank immediately verifies that you have enough cash 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% fee if you have the free card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend alert by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any 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 reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards promises huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking money and the extra action. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make profits from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, complete details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. What Is Currensea Card Good For