A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Direct Debit…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-cost method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You merely spend as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to obtain, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
add a growing number of functions which your existing customers don’t really want or need
include fees, constraints or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is easy 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 Direct Debit
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly 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 miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, charge card which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs 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 utilize abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any charges and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, 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 work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very 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, globally).
Your current account bank immediately confirms that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the totally free card, includes a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automated spend alert by means of the app, if you pick 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 journal, I decided to splash out and purchase 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 couple of days later on:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is just about to take place (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately over the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the finest bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the additional step. However that does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Necessary Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Necessary Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, complete information can be found on our rates plans.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Card Direct Debit