A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Card Kenya…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced way to invest abroad) but 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 bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is drawn from your bank account– simply without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or less expensive than the competitors
add increasingly more functions which your existing customers do not really require or desire
add charges, limitations or charges to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Phase 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? Currensea Card Kenya
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make 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 charges, then you do not require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really basic procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank instantly verifies 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 on the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the totally free card. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notification via the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any 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 shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is practically to take place (often in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards assures huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking money and the extra action. But that does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make revenue from our Essential Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our plans, complete information can be found on our prices plans.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Card Kenya