A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. How To Cancel A New Currensea Card…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an inexpensive way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to request, which also helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, but the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more functions which your existing customers don’t truly desire or require
add charges, costs 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 Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How To Cancel A New 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 small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn 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 fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire 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 money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a very 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, internationally).
Your bank account bank automatically validates that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
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 totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated spend notice via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
But transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is almost to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea guarantees huge savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
However I believe the very best bit might 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 current account with less worry about lacking money and the additional step. However that does not indicate it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free quantity on all our plans, full information can be discovered on our rates plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription fee likewise eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. How To Cancel A New Currensea Card