A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Does Currensea Card Work In Denmark…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an affordable method to spend abroad) however 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 between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to get, which likewise assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competitors
add increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not actually desire or need
include limitations, charges or fees to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, curve and revolut are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Does Currensea Card Work In Denmark
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ options which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact 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 only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond , 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very simple 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 immediately 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. adds a 0.5% cost if you have the totally free card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated invest alert via the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 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 few days later:.
However converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to occur (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe 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 worry about lacking cash and the extra action. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make income from our Important Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our prices plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual membership cost of , 25 for our Premium Strategy, and , 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Does Currensea Card Work In Denmark