A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Company Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-cost method to spend abroad) however 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 current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is drawn from your bank account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to get, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, however the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or less expensive than the competitors
add more and more features which your existing customers don’t truly need or want
add costs, charges or restrictions to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Company Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (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% forex fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which use benefits and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want 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 each month with no fees and just 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 needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely basic process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank automatically verifies that you have sufficient 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. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic spend alert via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 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 on:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises huge savings (85%) and a great app.
However I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the additional step. But that does not indicate it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make income from our Important Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our plans, full details can be found on our pricing plans.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Company Card