Currensea has launched an open banking debit card which enables small businesses to make international transactions through their existing bank account without charges.
The London FinTech, which featured third on our 100 FinTech Disrupters ranking, says its new debit Mastercard, which costs either £5 a month or £50 for 12 months, is competitive with leading challenger banks.
The average bank charge for an international transaction, such as paying a Zoom bill, is 3.25%. Currensea’s 0% charge means the rate reflects the best exchange rate available at that moment.
It also avoids the admin and due diligence required when creating and managing multiple business accounts while offering 16 interbank currencies, including the South African Rand and Thai Baht, which no other UK provider currently offers fee-free.
Its physical cards are developed by payment services provider allpay and includes a zero ATM withdrawal fee up to £500/month.
Founded in 2018 by JPMorgan and Barclays alumni and launching in January of this year, Currensea’s consumer card has been used in over 120 countries despite coronavirus limiting international travel.
The consumer card offers the same benefits as the SME service: frictionless, cheap transactions on imports and while travelling abroad.
Since its founding it has also attracted some big names to its board, including the former UK CEO of Amazon UK, the former CIO of Worldpay and the co-founders of Booking.com.
Currensea founders James Lynn, left, and Craig Goulding
“Following the success of our consumer launch, it was a no-brainer to offer the same service to SMEs,” said co-founder James Lynn.
“SMEs share many of the same consumer pain points, but in a way they’re even harder hit by the pain points associated with international spending because the process of setting up a bank account is even more complex and costly, especially as they grow and scale.
“There’s a lot of due diligence and admin involved – something businesses can do without – and that’s what Currensea is here to remove, while also offering compelling rates in the process.”
Mastercard’s proposal is integrated across Currensea’s B2C and B2B offerings, meaning payments via the Currensea debit card are covered by Mastercard’s chargeback protection and are accepted at millions of locations worldwide.
Edoardo Volta, Head of Fintechs at Mastercard, commented: “We’ve been working closely with Currensea over recent years, and are committed to supporting them as they promote their consumer and business offerings to travellers and SMEs alike.
“We’re incredibly excited about their potential and look forward to continuing to develop innovative solutions with them in the years to come.”
For more information on Currensea, please visit https://www.currensea.com.