A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Premium Currensea Card…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-priced way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which also assists.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, but the totally free strategy 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 cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more functions which your existing customers don’t truly require or desire
include charges, fees or restrictions to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is easy 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? Premium Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which offer rewards and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really 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, internationally).
Your current account bank automatically verifies that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, includes a 0.5% fee. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice via the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash 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:.
But transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is almost to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards assures big savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects 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 running out of money and the additional step. That does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the unsightly 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 Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make profits from our Important Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free quantity on all our strategies, complete information can be discovered on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Premium Currensea Card