A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. How Safe Is Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you a low-cost method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or cheaper than the competitors
include a growing number of features which your existing customers don’t truly require or want
add fees, charges or restrictions to the function that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How Safe Is Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
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 regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank instantly verifies that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest alert through the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 couple of days later on:.
But converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is almost to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the additional step. That does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our strategies, full details can be found on our rates strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. How Safe Is Currensea Card