A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. How Does Currensea Card Works…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-priced method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
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 normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which likewise assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
add more and more features which your existing customers do not truly need or desire
include costs, constraints or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already 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? How Does Currensea Card Works
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs 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 allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely simple process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank instantly confirms that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the deal.
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 complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
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 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is almost to happen (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards promises huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of money and the extra action. But that does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, 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 Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Necessary Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our rates plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. How Does Currensea Card Works