A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card T√ºRkiye…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in 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 money is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to make an application for, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, however the complimentary strategy 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 one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competition
add more and more features which your existing customers don’t really need or want
add charges, constraints or charges to the function that made people get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Stage 3 …
is simple 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 TüRkiye
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% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives 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 do not 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 an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated 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, globally).
Your bank account bank instantly confirms that you have sufficient cash 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% charge if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic spend notification by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
However converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is almost to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
I believe the finest bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the extra action. But that does not mean it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make profits from our Essential Plan whilst remaining 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 plans, complete details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge also removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we get a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Card T√ºRkiye