Currensea and firstdirect

brasseagle

I am trying to link my Currensea account to my firstdirect current account through the Currensea website.  At an early stage in the process, the Currensea website switches me over to a firstdirect open banking page so I can allow Currensea to access my account.  Trouble is, that step fails with a "Service unavailable" message.  I've contacted tech support people in both organisations, and fd say "it's a problem with Currensea, take it up with them", and Currensea say "it's a problem with firstdirect, take it up with them".  Stalemate.
Has anybody out there successfully linked a Currensea account to a firstdirect account?

NoodleDoodleMan

You'd be better with a "user friendly" card for holidays abroad.

 https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/

brasseagle

Thanks for the heads-up NoodleDoodleMan.  Did look at that page, and for various reasons thought the Currensea card might work best for me.  Will go back to that page and review though, as the Currensea road seems to be a dead end.

400ixl

I struggle to see what the benefits are unless you can't get a decent travel credit card. It looks like it charges a fee for forex and ATM withdrawals over £500 in a month.

NoodleDoodleMan

brasseagle said:

Thanks for the heads-up NoodleDoodleMan.  Did look at that page, and for various reasons thought the Currensea card might work best for me.  Will go back to that page and review though, as the Currensea road seems to be a dead end.

Is it for any specific country, or just generally for holiday use in the usual suspect countries of the Med ?

brasseagle

Just generally for holiday use, both in Europe and further afield

NoodleDoodleMan

Then I'd go for the cards recommened by MSE, as linked above.

I have Halifax Clarity credit card - and a Starling debit card............many of the regulars here use either or both.

brasseagle

Will have a look again at those, many thanks

NeedSomeHRadvice

On the currensea page, it compares itself to Starling and comes out slightly better (just slightly).

claims it's better than Revolut (possibly at the weekend) but not sure, but atleast no complex rules to remember like with Revolut eg weekend times/planning ahead. 

Also currensea deducts money from your account via direct debit 7 days after transaction so could some people a bit of breathing space.

MSE seems to be recommending it now and revolut is no longer the MSE travel cards page