A brand-new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. How To Order Currensea Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you a low-priced method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. You just spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your current account– just without the usual 3% charge.
Oh, and is complimentary to make an application for, which likewise helps.
There are also some fascinating travel benefits if you select a paid strategy, however the totally free strategy works fine. You can use here.
There is a business design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and totally free or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more features which your existing consumers do not actually desire or require
add restrictions, charges or costs to the function that made people 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 remain there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? How To Order Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% fee.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t need a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, credit cards which provide benefits and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to use abroad
you want a product which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no charges and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really 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, internationally).
Your bank account bank immediately confirms that you have adequate money in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending upon the currency. If you have the totally free card, adds a 0.5% cost. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend notice via the app, if you choose 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 chose to splash 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 couple of days later on:.
But converting pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is just about to happen (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion charges happening in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other fantastic cards guarantees huge savings (85%) and a great app.
I think the best bit may 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 worry about lacking cash and the additional step. However that does not mean it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the good, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium strategies have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Essential Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make earnings from our Important Plan whilst remaining much cheaper than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our plans, full information can be discovered on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription fee likewise removes all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Each time you invest with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. How To Order Currensea Card