A new fintech business which I was presented to previously this year. Limita Alimentare Card Currensea…
It has won a few awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-priced 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. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing bank account. There is absolutely nothing to top-up or prepay. You just invest as you would on a regular debit card and the money is taken from your current account– simply without the normal 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to obtain, which also assists.
There are also some interesting travel benefits if you pick a paid plan, however the complimentary plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is an organization model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have actually all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and for free or more affordable than the competitors
include increasingly more features which your existing customers do not actually need or want
include charges, charges or restrictions to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this procedure and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are currently in Stage 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Limita Alimentare Card Currensea
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which instantly charges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% cost.
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 credit card offering 0% foreign exchange costs, then you do not require a card, unless you want totally free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial service 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 charge card offering 0% FX costs and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any costs and only a very little FX mark-up (there is a little cost beyond �,� 500).
you want a product for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anyone else in your life who requires a simple, easy to understand payment card that will save them money when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, an extremely basic process. You use your Currensea card in the same way as your existing debit card.
You make your purchase in regional currency (any currency, globally).
Your current account bank immediately validates 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. If you have the free card, adds a 0.5% fee. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend alert via the app, if you select to install it.
The money is taken from your current account a couple of days later on.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash 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 on:.
Converting pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is just about to occur (typically in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion fees taking place in the background. Do not get me began. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Luckily in the last few years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures big savings (85%) and a terrific app.
But I think the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing current account with less fret about lacking cash and the additional step. That does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, 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 Vital Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make revenue from our Vital 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 complimentary amount on all our strategies, complete details can be found on our rates plans.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The membership fee likewise removes all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we get a small % of the deal, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be charged to you. Limita Alimentare Card Currensea