A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Oyster Card Currensea…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-priced way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to make an application for, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some fascinating travel advantages if you select a paid plan, but the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competitors
include a growing number of features which your existing customers do not truly need or want
add restrictions, charges or fees to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Oyster Card Currensea
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (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 costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, charge card which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use 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 costs and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no charges and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, 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, internationally).
Your current account bank immediately verifies that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% cost if you have the totally free card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notice by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to splash out and purchase 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 few days later:.
However converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the best bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking money and the extra action. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, 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, allowing us to make profits from our Vital Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our plans, complete details can be found on our prices strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee likewise eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Oyster Card Currensea