A new fintech company which I was presented to earlier this year. Monzo Vs Currensea Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over current months for what it does (providing you an affordable method to spend abroad) however what I like about is that it is simple as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a regular debit card and the cash is taken from your current account– simply without the typical 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to request, which also assists.
There are also some interesting travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, but the free plan works fine. You can apply here.
There is a service model in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing something well, and for free or cheaper than the competitors
include a growing number of functions which your existing consumers don’t really require or desire
add charges, restrictions or charges to the feature that made people get your item in the first place, eliminating 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 bar in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Monzo Vs Currensea Card
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a small 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You do not (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 costs, then you do not need a card, unless you desire complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
Credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX costs are couple of and far between. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX costs in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card particularly to utilize abroad
you desire an item which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals each month with no costs and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, moms and dads, 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 operate in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a very simple process. 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 verifies 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 free card, includes a 0.5% cost. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automated spend alert by means of the app, if you pick to install it.
The cash is taken from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which reveals �,� 4.33 arranged to leave my HSBC account a few days later on:.
But transforming pounds was expensive.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight robbery that is practically to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the outrageous currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
Thankfully in the last few years a handful of fantastic travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards promises big savings (85%) and a fantastic app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street checking account.
What this suggests is you can invest money you have in your existing bank account with less fret about running out of cash and the additional step. That does not indicate it is best.
In this Currensea review is the excellent, the bad, the unsightly and the alternatives, so that you can decide.
FX markup.
While our premium plans have no FX markup, we charge a small FX markup on our Important Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, allowing us to make income from our Necessary Plan whilst staying more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the complimentary quantity on all our strategies, full information can be found on our pricing strategies.
Subscription costs.
We charge a yearly membership cost of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription cost likewise gets rid of all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you invest with your card we get a little % of the transaction, called interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and will not be credited you. Monzo Vs Currensea Card