A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Currensea Powered By…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-cost way to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is drawn from your current account– simply without the typical 3% charge.
Oh, and is free to get, which also helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you select a paid plan, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or more affordable than the competitors
include a growing number of features which your existing clients don’t actually require or want
add restrictions, charges or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Powered By
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (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% foreign exchange fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX costs are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ choices which use a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to use abroad
you want an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you desire an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who needs a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when travelling.
How does work 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 regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank automatically verifies 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 upon the currency. If you have the free card, includes a 0.5% fee. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated invest alert through the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash 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 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
Transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime robbery that is practically to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea promises big savings (85%) and a great app.
I think the best bit may be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this indicates is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking money and the extra step. That does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea review is the great, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per deal, permitting us to make revenue from our Important Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid 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 discovered on our rates plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Currensea Powered By