A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Exchange Rate…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you an inexpensive way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just invest as you would on a normal debit card and the money is drawn from your current account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to look for, which also helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, however the totally free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing clients don’t truly require or want
add charges, charges or constraints to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will hopefully remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Exchange Rate
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
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 fees, then you do not need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, a very easy procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, internationally).
Your current account bank automatically validates that you have adequate 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% fee if you have the complimentary card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic spend notification by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I chose to sprinkle 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 couple of days later:.
However transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to take place (often in a different language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily recently a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards assures huge savings (85%) and an excellent app.
But I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less fret about running out of money and the additional action. That does not imply it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the ugly and the options, so that you can choose.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make income from our Important Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our strategies, complete information can be found on our prices strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Currensea Exchange Rate