A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Can You Use Currensea Without A Card…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or more affordable than the competitors
add a growing number of functions which your existing customers do not truly want or require
add charges, charges or limitations to the function that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 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 describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can You Use Currensea Without A Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, charge card which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ options which offer a partial service 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 charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month 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 anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a very simple procedure. You utilize 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 verifies that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated spend notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
However transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is just about to happen (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Fortunately recently a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards guarantees huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of money and the additional step. However that does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make earnings from our Important Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our rates strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Can You Use Currensea Without A Card