A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Can I Use Currensea Card In Ukraine…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to look for, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, but the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competition
add increasingly more functions which your existing clients don’t really want or require
include restrictions, charges or fees to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Phase 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? Can I Use Currensea Card In Ukraine
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (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% foreign exchange charges, then you do not require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which allows you to make , 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond , 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely basic procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank automatically confirms that you have adequate 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. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic spend notice through the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a few days later on.
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 shows , 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
But converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is almost to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises big cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of money and the additional step. That does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make income from our Essential Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, complete details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of , 25 for our Premium Strategy, and , 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Can I Use Currensea Card In Ukraine