A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Coupon…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your existing account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a business model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more features which your existing clients don’t actually need or desire
include constraints, charges or fees to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Coupon
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you don’t need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which provide a partial option 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 credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely basic procedure. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank immediately confirms that you have enough 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. includes a 0.5% fee if you have the complimentary card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend alert through the app, if you pick 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 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 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is just about to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises big cost savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
But I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street savings account.
What this suggests is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of cash and the additional action. That does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Important Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid 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.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we get a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Currensea Coupon