A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Can I Use My Currensea Card In The Us…
It has won a couple of 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, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– simply without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to request, which also helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competitors
add more and more features which your existing customers don’t actually require or want
add charges, charges or constraints to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic 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? Can I Use My Currensea Card In The Us
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial option 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 charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very easy procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank automatically validates 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. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle 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:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is practically to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this indicates is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking money and the extra step. But that does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make profits from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our strategies, complete information can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Can I Use My Currensea Card In The Us