A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. How Does Currensea Card Work…
It has actually won a few awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel advantages if you select a paid plan, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more features which your existing consumers don’t actually want or require
include fees, charges or restrictions to the feature that made individuals get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will hopefully stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is basic 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? How Does Currensea Card Work
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% cost.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, charge card which use rewards and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really simple process. 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 verifies that you have sufficient 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% charge. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest alert by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a couple of days later on.
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:.
However transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is practically to take place (often in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion fees happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily recently a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises huge savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking money and the additional step. But that does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, 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 Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make revenue from our Essential Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our strategies, full details can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a little % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. How Does Currensea Card Work