A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Can 2 People Share A Currensea Card…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-cost method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which likewise helps.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you select a paid plan, however the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
include increasingly more features which your existing clients don’t truly require or desire
add fees, limitations or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Curve, Revolut 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? Can 2 People Share A Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (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% forex charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each 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 children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very easy procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank immediately confirms that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal 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. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to take place (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily recently a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards assures huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of cash and the extra step. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, 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 small FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make revenue from our Necessary Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our plans, complete information can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Membership charges.
We charge an annual subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Can 2 People Share A Currensea Card