A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Where Can I Use My Currensea Card In The Uk…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your present account– simply without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which also helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, however the free strategy works fine. You can apply 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 more affordable than the competitors
add more and more functions which your existing clients don’t truly need or want
include constraints, charges or charges to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is easy 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? Where Can I Use My Currensea Card In The Uk
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex fees, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which provide benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially 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 charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very basic process. 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 bank account bank automatically confirms 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 on the currency. adds a 0.5% charge if you have the free card. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any 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 reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is almost to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises huge 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 implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of money and the additional action. But that does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Important Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our plans, complete details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Membership charges.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership charge likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Where Can I Use My Currensea Card In The Uk