A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Review Martin Lewis…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an affordable way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, 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 just spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some fascinating travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the totally free plan 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 more affordable than the competition
add more and more features which your existing clients do not truly require or desire
add charges, fees or constraints to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is easy 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 Review Martin Lewis
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
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% forex costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely 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 current account bank instantly 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 on the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic invest notice through 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. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to happen (often 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 anyway.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less fret about running out of cash and the extra step. But that does not suggest it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make profits from our Essential Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our plans, complete information can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Review Martin Lewis