A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Can I Withdraw Money From A Currensea Card…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, 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 typical debit card and the cash is taken from your bank account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which also helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competitors
add a growing number of features which your existing clients don’t actually want or require
add costs, limitations or charges to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can I Withdraw Money From A Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially 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 charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make , 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond , 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really simple process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank instantly confirms that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% cost if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic invest notification by means of the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows , 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to occur (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily recently a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this indicates is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less worry about lacking money and the additional action. That does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, 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 nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make profits from our Essential Plan whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our rates strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of , 25 for our Premium Strategy, and , 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Can I Withdraw Money From A Currensea Card