A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Activate My Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is totally free to request, which also helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competition
add increasingly more features which your existing consumers don’t truly want or require
add charges, constraints or charges to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Activate My Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately 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 using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ options which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a very easy procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank immediately verifies that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% charge if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic spend notice via the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled 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 daytime break-in that is almost to happen (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow 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 great cards Currensea assures huge savings (85%) and a great app.
I think the best bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking cash and the extra step. However that does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make revenue from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our rates strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Activate My Currensea Card