Currensea
| Company type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services |
| Founded | June 13, 2018 |
| Founder | James Lynn and Craig Goulding |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | United Kingdom |
Key people |
|
| Products | Travel debit card, currency exchange, payments |
| Revenue | £6.9M (2023) |
Number of employees | 41 (2022) |
| Website | www |
Currensea, is a British financial technology company providing travel debit cards, founded by James Lynn and Craig Goulding in 2018.[1][2]
Currensea launched the UK’s first customer-facing Card Based Payment Instrument Issuer (CBPII) offering. Through open banking, Currensea provides an open banking direct debit travel card for UK consumers that connects directly with their existing high street bank account.[3][4][5][6]
In 2023, Martin Lewis, the English financial journalist, noted that the Currensea offering is not based on a prepaid card, ‘so you don’t need to load it with currency before you set off’.[7][deprecated source]
History
[edit]Foundation and development
[edit]On 13 June 2018, Currensea was co-founded by Lynn and Goulding.[2] In February 2019, Currensea was selected to join the FCA’s regulatory sandbox to build and test the Currensea concept.[8]
In January 2020, Currensea launched its travel money card to consumers in the UK.[9]
During 2020, Currensea won a series of awards for its open banking innovation including IBS Intelligence Global Fintech Innovation Awards for ‘Most Impactful Project API/Open Banking’,[10] The Emerging Payments Awards for ‘Leading Banking or Open Banking Initiative’ and ‘Leading Financial Services or Payments Start-Up’,[11] FF PayTech Awards for ‘Paytech of the Future’,[12] and Payment Awards for ‘PSD2 or ‘Open Banking Initiative of the Year’.[13]
In November 2021, Currensea launched a programme, allowing travellers to convert savings from their FX fees into charity donations.[14]
During 2021, Currensea received further awards, including FStech Awards for ‘Open Banking Product or Service of the Year’,[15] The Emerging Payments Awards for ‘Best International Payments, Remittance or use of FX',[16] and The Card and Payments Awards for ‘Best Initiative in Open Banking’.[17]
2022 - Present
[edit]In 2022, Currensea raised over £4.5m through a Seedrs crowdfunding raise as well as VC investment from venture capitalist Blackfinch Ventures and 1818 Venture Capital. Since launch, Currensea has raised a total of £11m.[18]
In January 2024, it was reported that Currensea had saved travellers over £3 million in exchange fees.[19]
In July 2024, Currensea raised over £1.7m from 760 investors in just four hours on crowdfunding platform Seedrs.[20][21]
Services
[edit]Currensea offers three products: Currensea Essential, Currensea Premium and Currensea Elite. Currensea connects to an existing personal UK bank account to remove banking fees when spending in foreign currencies.[22]
Currensea Business allows SMEs to make international transactions with no bank charges and with no need to set up a separate business bank account.[23][24]
References
[edit]- '^ “CURRENSEA LIMITED overview – Find and update company information – GOV.UK”. Companies House. 13 June 2018. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ a b Menin, Anna (9 September, 2019). “Fintech advised by former Amazon and Visa executives to launch travel card”. CITY A.M. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ^ “Currensea Limited - Open Banking”. Open Banking Limited. 2024. Retrieved 5 September, 2024.
- ^ Brignall, Miles and Jones, Rupert (June 17, 2023). “Holiday spending: what to sort out now to keep costs down”. The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ Witherden, Grace (2 July 2024) “Best prepaid travel money cards 2024”. Which?. 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
- ^ Clawson, Trevor (October 9, 2020). “Staycation – How a UK open banking fintech diversified from travel transactions to SME Payments”. Forbes. Retrieved 24 January 2024
- ^ Marshall, Olivia (22 June, 2023). “HEFTY PRICE Martin Lewis issues urgent holiday warning for anyone using debit cards abroad - can you save cash?”. The Sun. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ “FCA – Regulatory Sandbox – Accepted Firms”. FCA. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
- ^ “UK-First - Innovative Travel Money Card”. Yorkshire Times. 27 October 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
- ^ “IBS Intelligence Global Fintech Innovation Awards 2020”. IBS Intelligence. 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ “The Emerging Payments Awards 2020”. The Payments Association. 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ “PayTech Awards 2020”. FinTech Futures. 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ “Payments Awards Winners 2020”. Payments Awards. 2023. Retrieved 30 January 2024.
- ^ May, Melanie (5 November 2021) “Travel debit card services lets cardholders donate with every transaction”. UK Fundraising. 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ “FStech Awards 2021”. FStech Awards. 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ “The Emerging Payments Awards 2021”. The Payments Association. 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ “The Card and Payments Awards 2021”. The Card and Payment Awards. 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ “Currensea smashes crowdfunding target.” Finextra. 2 July 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
- ^ “Travel debit card Currensea saves travellers over £3m in exchange fees”. Fintech Finance. 2 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ Prentergast, Robert (July 1, 2024). “Travel debit card Currensea raises over £1.7m on Seedrs”. Electronic Payments International. 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
- ^ Prentergast, Robert (July 1, 2024). “Travel debit card Currensea raises over £1.7m on Seedrs”. Yahoo Finance. 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
- ^ “Currensea – Personal”. Currensea. 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ “Currensea – Business”. Currensea. 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ Carrick, Angharad (5 October 2020) “London fintech launches product for small businesses”. CITY A.M. Retrieved 12 September 2024).