Currensea, a money-saving travel card linked to existing current accounts, has surpassed its crowdfunding target in under two hours, raising £1.35m from over 350 investors on Seedrs.
Founded by Barclays and JPMorgan alumni in 2018, Currensea claims that card users can save at least 85% on every transaction abroad by removing the normal fees applied by banks and other card providers.
Currensea uses open banking to securely connect to someone’s bank account with their approval, allowing travellers to make overseas transactions directly from funds in their current account, without needing to open any new account.
As the travel industry returns to pre-pandemic normality, Currensea has grown cardholder numbers by over 100%, colcking up over 45,000 sign-ups. This latest fundraising takes the total amount raised to £6.5m since launch.
The firm says it will use the new funds to support a recruitment drive as it strives to meet a target of acquiring 300,000 users in the next two years.
James Lynn, co-founder of Currensea, comments: “There has been phenomenal demand amongst investors, clearly demonstrating the scalability and need for a viable solution to the foreign exchange trap that we’ve all been forced to endure for too long.
“Currensea was created to provide travellers with more control over how their spend their money, finally providing a solution to the extortionate foreign exchange fees that have long seemed unavoidable."