A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Comanda Card Currensea Gratuit…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (providing you a low-priced method to invest abroad) however 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 between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is drawn from your current account– simply without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to get, which also helps.
There are likewise some fascinating travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competitors
add a growing number of functions which your existing customers don’t actually want or need
add restrictions, charges or fees to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Curve, Revolut and Monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Comanda Card Currensea Gratuit
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex fees, then you do not require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which provide a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want a product 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 small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really basic process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank instantly validates that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the totally free card, adds a 0.5% fee. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic invest notification by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to take place (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea guarantees huge savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
I think the best bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking money and the additional step. But that does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make earnings from our Vital Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, complete information can be discovered on our rates plans.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Comanda Card Currensea Gratuit