A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Why Use Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an affordable method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
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 invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– just without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to request, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, however the totally free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
include a growing number of features which your existing customers do not really need or desire
add charges, fees or restrictions to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic 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? Why Use Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to use 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 using 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 free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs 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 really simple procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank automatically confirms that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
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. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest alert 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 journal, 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 few days later:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is almost to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links 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 money and the extra step. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make profits from our Necessary Plan 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 complimentary amount on all our plans, full information can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee likewise eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Why Use Currensea Card