A new fintech company which I was introduced to earlier this year. Using My Currensea Card Abroad…
It has actually won a couple of awards over recent months for what it does (providing you a low-cost method to spend abroad) but what I like about is that it is basic as hell. This is an advantage.
is, efficiently, 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 merely spend as you would on a typical debit card and the money is taken from your bank account– just without the usual 3% fee.
Oh, and is free to request, which likewise helps.
There are likewise some intriguing travel advantages if you choose a paid strategy, but the complimentary strategy 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 something well, and totally free or less expensive than the competitors
include more and more functions which your existing clients don’t truly need or want
add charges, limitations or charges to the function that made people get your product in the first place, getting rid of any competitive advantage
is currently still in Phase 1 of this process and will ideally remain there. Monzo, revolut and curve are already in Stage 3 …
is basic enough that it passes my ‘Can you discuss it to your mate in the pub in 30 seconds?’ test:
What countries can I use Currensea? Using My Currensea Card Abroad
It is a complimentary direct debit card to utilize abroad and which automatically recharges all purchases to your existing bank account in Sterling, less a little 0.5% cost.
That’s it.
You don’t (yet …) earn any airline company miles or points for using it.
Why would I want to get a card?
If you have a credit card offering 0% forex charges, then you do not require a card, unless you desire free ATM withdrawals. You can stop checking out now.
However, credit cards which use benefits and charge 0% FX charges are scarce. The only ‘miles and points’ alternatives which use a partial solution are the Virgin Atlantic charge card which have 0% FX charges in the Euro zone.
IS possibly for you if:
you don’t have a credit card offering 0% FX charges and do not want to affect your credit report by getting another charge card specifically to utilize abroad
you desire an item which allows you to make �,� 500 of foreign currency ATM withdrawals per month with no charges and just 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 requires an easy, easy to understand payment card that will conserve them cash when travelling.
How does work in practice?
It is, as I said earlier, a really easy process. 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 immediately verifies that you have enough cash in your account and authorises the deal.
The transaction goes through at either the interbank rate or the Mastercard rate, depending on the currency. includes a 0.5% charge if you have the totally free card. There are no charges if you have among their paid cards.
You get an automatic spend alert by means of the app, if you choose to install it.
The cash is drawn from your current account a couple of days later.
Here is an example. With no foreign travel in the diary, I decided to sprinkle 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:.
Transforming pounds was costly.
A pet peeve of mine is when ATMs forewarn you about the daytime break-in that is just about to happen (often in a various language) while not telling you about the exorbitant currency conversion costs occurring in the background. Do not get me started. Anyway back to the positives for a bit anyhow.
In current years a handful of excellent travel debit cards have actually popped onto the scene … and like other great cards Currensea promises big cost savings (85%) and a great app.
I think the finest bit may be what no other card does: connects to your existing high street bank account.
What this implies is you can spend cash you have in your existing bank account with less worry about lacking cash and the extra step. But that does not suggest it is ideal.
In this Currensea evaluation is the excellent, the bad, the ugly 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 Plan of 0.5% per deal, allowing us to make income from our Vital Strategy whilst staying more affordable than other pre-paid cards and high-street debit cards. We likewise charge an FX markup on ATM use over the free quantity on all our strategies, complete information can be discovered on our rates strategies.
Subscription charges.
We charge a yearly membership fee of �,� 25 for our Premium Plan, and �,� 120 for our Elite Strategy. The subscription cost also eliminates all FX markup on transactions.
Interchange.
Whenever you spend with your card we receive a small % of the transaction, referred to as interchange, this comes directly from the merchant and won’t be charged to you. Using My Currensea Card Abroad