A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Can A 15 Year Old Have A Currensea Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to invest 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 spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which also helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you select a paid plan, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or cheaper than the competition
add increasingly more functions which your existing consumers do not actually want or require
add limitations, charges or fees to the function that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can A 15 Year Old Have A Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically 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 using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you do not need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX charges are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives 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 do not have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, 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 operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely easy process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank automatically confirms that you have adequate money 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% charge if you have the free card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notification via the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a couple of 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 reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is practically to occur (often in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea assures big cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this implies is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of cash and the additional action. However that does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Vital Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free quantity on all our plans, complete details can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Can A 15 Year Old Have A Currensea Card