A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Can You Use Your Currensea Card Abroad…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-priced way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which likewise assists.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
add a growing number of features which your existing consumers don’t truly desire or need
add fees, charges or constraints to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can You Use Your Currensea Card Abroad
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically recharges 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 using it.
Why would I want 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 use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use 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 charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely simple process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank automatically confirms that you have enough 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. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% charge. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notification via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 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:.
However converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily recently a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards assures huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the extra step. But that does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make revenue from our Vital Plan whilst staying much cheaper 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 strategies, complete information can be discovered on our rates strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Can You Use Your Currensea Card Abroad