A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Mobile App…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You simply invest as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which also assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you choose a paid strategy, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
add a growing number of features which your existing customers do not really want or need
add costs, charges or constraints to the function that made individuals 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. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Mobile App
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX costs are scarce. The only ‘points and miles’ options which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any costs and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really 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, worldwide).
Your current account bank immediately confirms that you have enough money 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, adds a 0.5% fee. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend alert via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to splash 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:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards assures big cost savings (85%) and a terrific 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 indicates is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less fret about lacking cash and the additional action. But that does not suggest it is best.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, 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 Vital Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make profits from our Necessary 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 free amount on all our plans, complete details can be found on our prices strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Mobile App