A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Card Black Friday…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-priced way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to get, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some fascinating travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design 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 competitors
add a growing number of functions which your existing customers do not really need or desire
add charges, restrictions or costs to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Card Black Friday
It is a totally 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% charge.
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 credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you do not require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. 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 potentially for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, 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 travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really easy process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your bank account bank instantly confirms that you have enough 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. adds a 0.5% cost if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic spend alert via the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no 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 shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
But transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to take place (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the finest bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about running out of money and the extra step. But that does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make earnings from our Important Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the totally free quantity on all our plans, full details can be discovered on our pricing strategies.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge likewise eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Card Black Friday