A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Order New Currensea Card…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (offering you a low-priced way to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good idea.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. It is a Mastercard which sits between you and your existing current account. There is nothing to top-up or prepay. You simply spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is drawn from your bank account– just without the typical 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to get, which likewise helps.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the free plan works fine. You can use 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 cheaper than the competitors
add a growing number of functions which your existing customers do not really require or desire
include limitations, charges or costs to the feature that made people get your product in the first place, eliminating any competitive advantage
is currently still in Stage 1 of this process and will ideally stay there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Phase 3 …
is simple enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Order New Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to utilize abroad and which immediately recharges 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 using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange fees, then you do not need a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop reading now.
However, credit cards which offer rewards and charge 0% FX fees are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which provide a partial option 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 costs and do not wish to affect your credit report by getting another credit card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire a product which permits you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month without any fees and just a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult children, moms and dads, partner or anybody else in your life who requires a basic, easy to understand payment card that will save them cash when taking a trip.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, an extremely 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 validates that you have sufficient cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The deal goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% cost if you have the free card. There are no costs if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic invest notification through the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I decided to splash out and purchase 1,000 MeliaRewards points for EUR5.
This is what you see in the Currensea app, which shows �,� 4.33 scheduled to leave my HSBC account a couple of days later on:.
Converting pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daylight break-in that is almost to occur (often in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion fees occurring in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyhow back to the positives for a bit anyway.
Fortunately recently a handful of terrific travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other great cards assures huge cost savings (85%) and a great app.
However I believe the best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street savings account.
What this implies is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less stress over lacking cash and the extra action. However that does not indicate it is perfect.
In this Currensea evaluation is the great, the bad, the unsightly and the options, so that you can choose.
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 Essential Plan whilst remaining more affordable than other prepaid cards and high-street debit cards. We also charge an FX markup on ATM usage over the totally free quantity on all our strategies, full information can be found on our rates strategies.
Membership fees.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Plan. The subscription charge also gets rid of all FX markup on deals.
Interchange.
Each time you spend with your card we receive a little % of the deal, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and will not be credited you. Order New Currensea Card