A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Apple Wallet…
It has actually won a couple of 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 simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to get, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, but the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or less expensive than the competition
include a growing number of features which your existing customers don’t really want or need
add fees, limitations or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Apple Wallet
It is a totally 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 …) earn 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 do not require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really basic process. 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 confirms 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. If you have the free card, includes a 0.5% fee. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend alert via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
However converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime burglary that is practically to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea guarantees big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking cash and the extra step. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the unsightly 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 Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make profits from our Vital Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our plans, complete information can be found on our rates strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription fee also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Apple Wallet