A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Does The Currensea Card Allow Direct Debit…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (using you an inexpensive method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You just spend as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– just without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to apply for, which likewise helps.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or less expensive than the competitors
include increasingly more functions which your existing consumers do not actually want or need
include limitations, costs or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, curve and revolut are currently in Stage 3 …
is basic 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? Does The Currensea Card Allow Direct Debit
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you don’t need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX fees are few and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any costs and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a small fee beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, 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, a really simple process. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, internationally).
Your bank account bank automatically confirms that you have adequate cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% cost if you have the totally free card. There are no fees if you have one of their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notification through the app, if you pick 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 diary, I chose to sprinkle out and buy 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 few days later:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is practically to occur (often in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea guarantees huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less fret about running out of money and the extra action. However that does not mean 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 plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Vital Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make revenue from our Important 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 complimentary amount on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our prices strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a small % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Does The Currensea Card Allow Direct Debit