A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Problems…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, 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– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to make an application for, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, however the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competitors
include increasingly more functions which your existing clients do not actually desire or require
add restrictions, costs or charges to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Problems
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and just a very little 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 a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely basic procedure. 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 bank account bank automatically confirms that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest alert via the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, 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 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
However converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is practically to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully recently a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards guarantees huge savings (85%) and a great app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional action. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make profits from our Important Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our plans, full information can be found on our prices plans.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Problems