A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Amazon…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, 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 simply invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is drawn from your current account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to obtain, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, but the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competition
add more and more features which your existing clients do not really desire or require
add charges, restrictions or fees to the function that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Amazon
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 little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex fees, then you do not need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far 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 perhaps for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely easy process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank instantly confirms that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the totally free card, adds a 0.5% cost. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, 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 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is practically to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully in recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards assures huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this indicates is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the extra action. That does not suggest it is best.
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 Essential Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Essential Plan whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be discovered on our rates plans.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Amazon