A brand-new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Is My Currensea Card A Debit Card…
It has actually won a few awards over current months for what it does (offering you a low-priced method to invest abroad) but what I like about is that it is easy as hell. This is an advantage.
is, successfully, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits in between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You just spend as you would on a typical debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– just without the normal 3% charge.
Oh, and is totally free to look for, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you select a paid strategy, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a business 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
include increasingly more functions which your existing customers do not truly need or desire
include restrictions, fees or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Stage 1 of this process and will hopefully stay there. Revolut, monzo and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is easy 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 My Currensea Card A Debit Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) make any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX fees are few and far in between. The only ‘points and miles’ choices which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic credit cards which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to impact your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month without any charges and just a very little FX mark-up (there is a little charge 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 travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really basic 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 automatically confirms that you have enough 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. If you have the totally free card, includes a 0.5% cost. If you have one of their paid cards, there are no fees.
You get an automatic spend notice through the app, if you select to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a few days later.
Here is an example. Without any foreign travel in the diary, I chose to sprinkle out and purchase 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 on:.
But transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight burglary that is practically to take place (frequently in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. 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 big savings (85%) and an excellent app.
I believe the finest bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this suggests is you can invest cash you have in your existing current account with less stress over lacking cash and the additional step. But that does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea review is the good, the bad, the awful and the options, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a nominal FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make income from our Vital Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM use over the complimentary amount on all our plans, full details can be found on our pricing plans.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly subscription cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee also eliminates all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we receive a small % of the deal, called interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Is My Currensea Card A Debit Card