A new fintech business which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Faq…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you an affordable method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is a good idea.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– simply without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to make an application for, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the complimentary strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and free of charge or more affordable than the competition
add a growing number of functions which your existing clients don’t actually desire or need
add charges, constraints or charges to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy 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 Faq
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which offer a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said 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, worldwide).
Your bank account bank immediately validates that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% cost if you have the totally free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic invest notice through the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, I chose to splash out and purchase 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:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is almost to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs taking place in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately in the last few years a handful of terrific travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards promises big cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I think the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less worry about running out of money and the extra action. However that does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the ugly and the options, 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 deal, permitting us to make profits from our Essential Plan whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, complete details can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we get a little % of the deal, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Faq