A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Card Usa…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you a low-cost way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, 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 spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is drawn from your bank account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which also helps.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid plan, however the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a service design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
add increasingly more features which your existing consumers don’t actually desire or require
add fees, restrictions or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple 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 Usa
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish 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 free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very easy process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank automatically verifies that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the free card, includes a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated invest alert by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I chose to splash out and purchase 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 few days later on:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is almost to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily over the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less stress over running out of cash and the additional action. That does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, 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 Essential Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make income from our Essential Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our plans, full information can be found on our prices strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge also removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Card Usa