A brand-new fintech company which I was introduced to previously this year. How Do You Top Up Your Currensea Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you an inexpensive method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your present account– simply without the normal 3% fee.
Oh, and is complimentary to request, which likewise assists.
There are likewise some interesting travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and totally free or more affordable than the competitors
include a growing number of features which your existing consumers do not really require or want
include costs, charges or restrictions to the function that made individuals get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Curve, monzo and revolut are already in Phase 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? How Do You Top Up Your Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex costs, then you do not need a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX charges are few and far between. The only ‘points and miles’ options which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to use abroad
you want a product which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a small cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item 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 travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, a very basic 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 current account bank immediately validates that you have enough cash 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 free card, includes a 0.5% charge. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automated spend notification by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided 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 pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is practically to happen (often in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion charges occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately recently a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards promises huge cost savings (85%) and an excellent app.
However I believe the very 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 current account with less worry about running out of money and the additional step. But that does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make earnings from our Important Strategy whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the free amount on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our pricing plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription fee likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. How Do You Top Up Your Currensea Card