A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Can Pay Money From South Africa Into Currensea Card…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-priced way 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. You simply spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your present account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, but the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competitors
add increasingly more features which your existing customers don’t really desire or require
include fees, charges or limitations to the function that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can Pay Money From South Africa Into Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which enables you to make , 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond , 500).
you want an item 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 taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely simple procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank instantly validates that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. adds 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 automated spend notice 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. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to sprinkle out and purchase 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 couple of days later on:.
However transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is practically to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises huge savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of money and the extra action. However that does not indicate it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make income from our Important Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our strategies, full details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of , 25 for our Premium Strategy, and , 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each 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 credited you. Can Pay Money From South Africa Into Currensea Card