A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Comanda Card Currensea Gratuit…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-priced method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which also assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
add more and more features which your existing customers don’t really need or want
add fees, limitations or charges to the feature that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is easy 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? Comanda Card Currensea Gratuit
It is a free 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 charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any charges and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody 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 said previously, 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, globally).
Your current account bank instantly verifies that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal 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% fee. 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 cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea guarantees huge savings (85%) and a great app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking money and the additional step. That does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings 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 complimentary amount on all our plans, full details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee also gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Comanda Card Currensea Gratuit