A new fintech business which I was introduced to previously this year. Refund On Currensea Card…
It has won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (using you an affordable method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is a good thing.
is, effectively, a direct debit travel card. You just invest as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your existing account– simply without the usual 3% cost.
Oh, and is complimentary to look for, which also assists.
There are also some fascinating travel advantages if you pick a paid plan, however the free plan works fine. You can use here.
There is a company design in fintech which Curve, Revolut, Monzo and so on have all followed:
launch by doing one thing well, and free of charge or less expensive than the competitors
add increasingly more functions which your existing consumers don’t truly want or need
add charges, constraints or charges to the function that made individuals get your item in the first place, removing any competitive advantage
is presently still in Phase 1 of this process and will hopefully remain there. Revolut, curve and monzo are currently in Phase 3 …
is easy enough that it passes my ‘Can you describe it to your mate in the club in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Refund On Currensea Card
It is a totally free direct debit card to use abroad and which immediately charges all purchases to your existing current account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% charge.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I wish to get a card?
If you have a charge card offering 0% foreign exchange charges, then you don’t require a card, unless you want complimentary ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which provide rewards and charge 0% FX fees are rare. The only ‘miles and points’ options which use a partial service are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX fees in the Euro zone.
IS perhaps for you if:
you do not have a charge card offering 0% FX fees and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you want an item which enables you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals monthly without any charges and only a minimal FX mark-up (there is a small charge beyond �,� 500).
you want an item for you, your adult kids, parents, partner or anyone else in your life who needs a basic, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them money when travelling.
How does operate in practice?
It is, as I stated earlier, a really easy process. You utilize 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 confirms that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the transaction.
The transaction 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 one of their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend alert by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The money is drawn from your bank account a few days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the journal, I chose to splash 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 few days later:.
But transforming pounds was pricey.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is almost to take place (frequently in a different language) while not telling you about the inflated currency conversion charges happening in the background. Don’t get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In recent years a handful of great travel debit cards have popped onto the scene … and like other terrific cards Currensea promises big savings (85%) and a great app.
But I believe the very best bit might be what no other card does: links to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend money you have in your existing bank account with less worry about running out of money and the extra step. But that does not mean 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 small FX markup on our Necessary Strategy of 0.5% per transaction, enabling us to make earnings from our Vital Strategy whilst remaining much cheaper 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 discovered on our rates strategies.
Membership costs.
We charge a yearly subscription charge of �,� 25 for our Premium Strategy, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The membership charge likewise eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a little % of the transaction, known as interchange, this comes straight from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Refund On Currensea Card