A new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. Currensea Hsbc…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (offering you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to get, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
add increasingly more functions which your existing consumers do not actually desire or require
include constraints, costs or charges to the function that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Hsbc
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not require a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which offer rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very basic process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank automatically verifies that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the free card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification through the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 reveals �,� 4.33 arranged 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 break-in that is almost to take place (typically in a different 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 anyhow.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However 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 invest money you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of money and the extra action. That does not indicate it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the ugly 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 Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make earnings from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our plans, complete details can be found on our rates strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Hsbc