A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Can You Get A Joint Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which also assists.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or more affordable than the competition
add increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not actually need or desire
include restrictions, charges or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can You Get A Joint Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really basic procedure. 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 bank account bank immediately validates 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 upon the currency. includes a 0.5% cost if you have the totally free card. There are no fees if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no 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 couple of days later:.
However transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is practically to take place (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises big savings (85%) and a terrific app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking cash and the extra action. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make income from our Essential Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our rates strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
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 won’t be credited you. Can You Get A Joint Currensea Card