A brand-new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. Currensea Exchange Rates…
It has won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-cost way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid strategy, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competitors
include more and more functions which your existing consumers do not actually need or desire
add constraints, charges or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Exchange Rates
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you don’t require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, charge card which use rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said 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 current account bank automatically validates 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 free card, adds a 0.5% fee. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest alert via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later on.
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 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
However converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is almost to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges happening in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards Currensea promises big cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
But I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking money and the additional step. But that does not indicate it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Plan of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Important Strategy whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our rates plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription charge likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Exchange Rates