A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. I’ve Lost My Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you an affordable way to invest abroad) however 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 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 drawn from your current account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which also assists.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, but the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competition
add more and more features which your existing customers do not really require or want
include limitations, costs or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve 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? I’ve Lost My Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial solution 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 charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very simple procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank automatically validates that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. adds a 0.5% cost if you have the complimentary card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to splash out and buy 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 couple of days later:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to occur (often in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea assures huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
However I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less fret about lacking cash and the additional action. However that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make income from our Important 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 complimentary quantity on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. I’ve Lost My Currensea Card