A new fintech company which I was presented to previously this year. How Much Is A Physical Currensea Card…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (using you an inexpensive way to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good idea.
is, efficiently, a direct debit travel card. You merely spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– just without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is free to get, which likewise helps.
There are also some intriguing travel benefits if you pick a paid strategy, but the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service design 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
add more and more features which your existing customers do not really require or desire
add charges, restrictions or charges to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this procedure and will ideally stay there. Revolut, curve and monzo are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How Much Is A Physical Currensea Card
It is a free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) earn 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 need a card, unless you want free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Nevertheless, charge card which offer rewards and charge 0% FX costs are rare. The only ‘points and miles’ alternatives which offer a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you want a product 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 small charge beyond �,� 500).
you desire a product for you, your adult children, parents, partner or anybody else in your life who requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a very easy procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in local currency (any currency, globally).
Your bank account bank instantly confirms that you have sufficient money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. adds a 0.5% charge if you have the free card. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no costs.
You get an automatic spend notification via the app, if you choose 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 set up to leave my HSBC account a few days later:.
But transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is almost to take place (often in a different language) while not telling you about the expensive currency conversion costs happening in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
In recent years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea guarantees huge savings (85%) and a great app.
I think the best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional action. That does not imply it is best.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the ugly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, permitting us to make profits from our Necessary Plan whilst staying much cheaper than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary amount on all our strategies, complete information can be discovered on our prices plans.
Subscription charges.
We charge an annual subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription fee likewise eliminates 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 straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. How Much Is A Physical Currensea Card