A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Currensea Under 18 Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– simply without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which also helps.
There are likewise some fascinating travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, however the free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or cheaper than the competition
add more and more functions which your existing clients do not really require or desire
include charges, charges or restrictions to the function that made people 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 stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are currently in Phase 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Currensea Under 18 Card
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 little 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which offer a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to impact your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little fee beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated previously, an extremely basic procedure. You use 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 instantly confirms that you have enough money in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the complimentary card, adds a 0.5% fee. There are no charges if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend notification by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The money is drawn from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and buy 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:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is almost to happen (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Do not get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily over 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 a terrific app.
But I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this indicates is you can invest cash you have in your existing bank account with less fret about lacking cash and the extra step. But that does not suggest it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Plan of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make profits from our Important Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, full details can be discovered on our rates plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual subscription fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you spend with your card we receive a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Currensea Under 18 Card