A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Card Bank Transfer…
It has won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You merely invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your present account– just without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to apply for, which likewise assists.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competition
include increasingly more functions which your existing clients don’t really desire or require
add limitations, charges or costs to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Bank Transfer
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately 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 utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not require a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, credit cards which offer benefits 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 fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to use abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely simple procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank instantly confirms that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% fee. There are no fees if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notice by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any 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 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to occur (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully over the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
But I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking money and the extra action. But that does not suggest it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make earnings from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our plans, full details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card Bank Transfer