A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Netflix Currensea Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your present account– just without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which also helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you select a paid plan, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can use 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 for free or more affordable than the competition
add increasingly more features which your existing clients do not truly require or want
add constraints, charges or costs to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Netflix Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which offer a partial solution 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 charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely easy 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 current account bank automatically validates that you have enough money 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 costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest alert via the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 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:.
However converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to happen (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully in recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards assures huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional step. However that does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, 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 Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make income from our Necessary Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our plans, full details can be found on our rates strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Netflix Currensea Card