A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Black Card Benefits…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-cost method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to apply for, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the totally free 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 totally free or cheaper than the competitors
add increasingly more features which your existing consumers don’t actually desire or require
add limitations, fees or charges to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic 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? Currensea Black Card Benefits
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial solution 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 impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item 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 cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really easy process. 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 bank account bank immediately verifies that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated spend alert by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
However converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to happen (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards promises big savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the finest bit might 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 bank account with less worry about lacking cash and the additional action. That does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the ugly and the options, 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 transaction, allowing us to make profits from our Vital Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, full information can be found on our prices strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Black Card Benefits