A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Can I Avoid Negative Balances On A Currensea Card…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-cost way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing bank account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– simply without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to get, which also assists.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or less expensive than the competition
add increasingly more features which your existing customers do not really desire or require
add charges, restrictions or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic 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? Can I Avoid Negative Balances On A Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you do not require a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you want an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely simple procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank automatically validates 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 upon the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the totally free card. There are no costs if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notification via the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, 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 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is almost to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street checking account.
What this indicates is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of money and the additional step. That does not mean it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make revenue from our Essential Plan whilst staying much cheaper 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 plans, complete details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Can I Avoid Negative Balances On A Currensea Card