A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Card Currensea Pareri Forum…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-priced way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, 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 merely spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to look for, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, however the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
add increasingly more features which your existing customers do not actually need or desire
include fees, charges or constraints to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Card Currensea Pareri Forum
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
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 charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps 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 credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely simple procedure. You utilize 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 validates that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated invest notice by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided 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 few days later on:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges happening 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 fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards promises big cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
But I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the additional action. That does not mean it is ideal.
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 nominal FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make earnings from our Vital Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our plans, full information can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Card Currensea Pareri Forum