A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Can You Get A Currensea Card Under 18…
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 an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to look for, which likewise helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, however the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
include a growing number of features which your existing clients don’t really want or require
include charges, fees or limitations to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Can You Get A Currensea Card Under 18
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t require a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX charges are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really basic procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank automatically verifies that you have adequate cash 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, includes a 0.5% charge. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated invest notification via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and purchase 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:.
Converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is almost to take place (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
However I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking cash and the extra step. That does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make income from our Necessary Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, full information can be found on our rates strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Can You Get A Currensea Card Under 18