A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Travel Money Card…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-priced way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to look for, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or less expensive than the competition
include more and more features which your existing clients don’t actually need or want
add constraints, charges or costs to the feature 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 hopefully stay 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 pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Travel Money Card
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing 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 complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very 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, globally).
Your current account bank instantly verifies 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% fee if you have the totally free card. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest alert via the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided 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:.
But converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is almost to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards promises huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking cash and the extra action. However that does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make earnings from our Important Plan whilst staying 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 strategies, complete details can be found on our rates plans.
Membership charges.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Travel Money Card