A new fintech business which I was introduced to earlier this year. Free Currensea Card…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-cost method to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your present account– simply without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, but the free strategy works fine. You can apply here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competition
add increasingly more features which your existing customers don’t really require or desire
include charges, charges or constraints to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Monzo, curve and revolut are already in Stage 3 …
is basic 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? Free Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Nevertheless, charge card which provide benefits and charge 0% FX costs are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you want a product which enables 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 little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a really simple process. 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 automatically verifies that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. adds a 0.5% fee if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automatic invest notification via the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the journal, 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 set up to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is just about to occur (often in a various language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me began. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other excellent cards Currensea guarantees huge savings (85%) and a terrific app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this means is you can spend money you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking cash and the extra action. That does not imply it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the awful 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 Vital Plan of 0.5% per deal, enabling us to make revenue from our Vital Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free quantity on all our strategies, complete details can be discovered on our pricing plans.
Membership costs.
We charge an annual membership charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership cost also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we get a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Free Currensea Card