A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Can I Use My Currensea Card In India…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– just without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which likewise assists.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
add a growing number of features which your existing clients don’t actually desire or require
include restrictions, fees or charges to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can I Use My Currensea Card In India
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline 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 want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX charges are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely simple procedure. You utilize 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 validates that you have sufficient 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. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic spend alert through the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is almost to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over running out of money and the extra step. But that does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make income from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Membership charges.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Can I Use My Currensea Card In India