A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Is Currensea Card Accepted In Rental Cars…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you a low-cost way to invest abroad) however what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You simply spend as you would on a normal debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is totally free to apply for, which also helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel benefits if you choose a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo etc have actually all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competition
include increasingly more functions which your existing consumers do not really want or require
add constraints, costs or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you explain it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Is Currensea Card Accepted In Rental Cars
It is a free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for utilizing it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% forex fees, then you do not require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use rewards and charge 0% FX costs are few and far in between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide a partial option are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS potentially for you if:
you do not have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly with no charges and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a little charge beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs an easy, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said previously, an extremely basic procedure. You utilize your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, worldwide).
Your current account bank automatically verifies that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no charges.
You get an automated spend alert via the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is taken from your current account a few days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to sprinkle out and buy 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is practically to occur (typically in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards guarantees big cost savings (85%) and a terrific app.
But I think 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 current account with less fret about running out of cash and the additional step. That does not indicate it is ideal.
In this Currensea review is the good, 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 nominal FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make profits from our Essential Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free amount on all our plans, full details can be found on our prices plans.
Subscription fees.
We charge an annual membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership fee likewise gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Every time you invest with your card we receive a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be credited you. Is Currensea Card Accepted In Rental Cars