A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Can I Put Cash On Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-priced way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which also assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the totally free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
add increasingly more functions which your existing customers don’t actually need or want
include charges, limitations or fees to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can I Put Cash On Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you do not require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate 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 regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank automatically confirms that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the free card, includes a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated spend alert through the app, if you select 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 journal, I chose to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is almost to happen (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully over the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards assures big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional step. However that does not indicate it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make profits from our Essential Plan whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be found on our rates strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Can I Put Cash On Currensea Card