NEW! Currensea Hilton Debit Card. Is It Any Good?

Currensea has just introduced a new Hilton debit card, offering cardholders the opportunity to earn Hilton Honors points on every purchase, whether in the UK or abroad. But how does this card stack up? And who are Currensea, the company behind the card? Let’s take a closer look at both the brand and the benefits to see if it’s worth adding to your wallet.

Who are Currensea?

Currensea is a fairly new fin-tech company that offers a travel debit card that aims to simplify the process of spending abroad. The concept is super simple. It’s a debit card you can use abroad which recharges all your purchases to your linked current account. And well… that’s it! Depending on plan you choose there are also other benefits including fee free spending, Car hire benefits, lounge access and more. You can view their standard offerings here – https://www.currensea.com/refer-a-friend?utm_source=refer-a-friend&friend-referral-code=LBI5IB

If you use the above referral link we will both receive £10 when you spend £100 in foreign currency.

So where does the Hilton Debit card come into all this? Well Currensea has just released a Hilton Honors variant of their concept…

What benefits does the Hilton Debit Card have?

You have two different options when signing-up (unfortunately neither option is fee free)…

Hilton Honors Debit Card – £60/year:

• Welcome bonus: Sign up by 30 November 2024 to receive 3,500 Bonus Points when you spend £1,000 in foreign currency in the first 6 months.
• Earn rate: Earn up to 3 points per £1 (GBP spend 1 point per £1, foreign currency 2 points per £1, Hilton properties 2 points per £1 in the UK, 3 points per £1 spending in foreign currency)
• Status: Instant Hilton Honors Silver Status. See Hilton Honors Status benefits.
• Transactions: Realtime Exchange Rate with low 0.5% FX fees.
• ATM withdrawals: Low 0.5% FX fees on ATM withdrawals abroad. 2.5% FX fee over £250 per month

Sign up/more information – https://hiltonhonorsdebitcard.currensea.co.uk/refer-a-friend?utm_source=refer-a-friend&friend-referral-code=LBQBTG.

You’ll receive an additional 500 Hilton points if you sign-up through our referral link.

Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card – £150/year:

• Welcome bonus: Sign up by 30 November 2024 to receive 12,000 Bonus Points when you spend £2,500 in foreign currency in the first 6 months.
• Earn rate: Earn up to 3 points per £1 (GBP spend 1.5 points per £1, foreign currency 3 points per £1, Hilton properties 3 points per £1 in the UK, 4.5 points per £1 spending in foreign currency)
• Status: Instant Hilton Honors Gold Status. See Hilton Honors Status benefits.
• Transactions: Realtime Exchange Rate with no FX fees.
• ATM withdrawals: Fee free ATM withdrawals abroad. 2.5% FX fee over £500 per month.

Sign up/more information – https://hiltonhonorsdebitcard.currensea.co.uk/refer-a-friend?utm_source=refer-a-friend&friend-referral-code=LBQBTG.

You’ll receive an additional 1,000 Hilton points if you sign-up through our referral link.

As you can see (and you might expect) the options are heavily skewed towards those who spending abroad, particularly as the sign-up bonus can only be earned on spend in foreign currency.

Don’t forget that Currensea cards aren’t ‘regular’ debits cards. You simply spend as you would on a normal debit card and the money is taken from your current account.

Anything else that’s good to know?

Unfortunately no pro-rata refunds are available if you decide to cancel partway through your subscription (which is taken a few days after sign-up via direct debit.) If you wish to cancel you have to do so at least 30 days before the end of your subscription or it will auto-renew. Upgrades are allowed and you will receive a pro-rata refund of your current subscription. Downgrades will take affect after your initial 12 month subscription to the higher plan.

Can I use it for business expenses?

Interestingly when you sign-up you are asked whether you will be putting any business expenses on the card (don’t worry this is allowed!) We couldn’t find any information on the differences other than ‘broader categories of spend are available for points earning (from the T&Cs.)

Are there any restrictions on where I can earn points with the Currensea Hilton Debit Card?

Unfortunately (as you might expect!) there are certain payments that aren’t eligible to earn Hilton points when you use your card. These are listed below.

• UK or European taxes (e.g., HMRC, council tax)
• Rent or mortgage payments
• Card fees
• ATM cash withdrawals
• Financial product payments
• Cash recycling schemes
• Educational fees
• Cash advances disguised as purchases
• Transactions with retailers controlled by the cardholder

How good they are at detecting this or if there are any interesting arbitrate opportunities with the card remains to be seen!

Is it worth getting?

As you might expect the cards are most suited to those who spend considerable amounts abroad. Lets take a look at the basic Hilton debit card first…

1. The basic Hilton debit card has a fee of £60. This only earns 1 point per £1 spent in the UK which can easily be beaten by the free The American Express® Rewards Credit Card. This earns 1 membership reward point per £1 which converts into 2 Hilton points per £1. Another comparison would be with the free Virgin Atlantic credit card (as you can convert Virgin points into Hilton points.) This earns 0.75 Virgin points per £1 (would convert to 1.125 Hilton points) which is again higher than on the Currensea Hilton debit card.
   
2. Abroad the basic Hilton debit card earns 2 points per £1 (the same as the free The American Express® Rewards Credit Card) but benefits from a lower 0.5% FX fee compared to Amex’s 2.99%). This means on spend above £2,410.44 you will be saving on FX fees when accounting for the £60 fee of the Hilton card. Alternatively you could compare to the free Virgin Atlantic card again, this has no FX fee on Euros, Swedish Kronor & Romanian Lei (outside of this it has 2.99% FX like Amex), but only earns 0.75 Virgin points per £1 (would convert to 1.125 Hilton points)

Now lets take a look at the Plus Hilton debit card…

1. The Hilton Plus debit card has a fee of £150. This earns 1.5 points per £1 spent in the UK which again can easily be beaten by the free The American Express® Rewards Credit Card. This earns 1 membership reward point per £1 which converts into 2 Hilton points per £1. Another comparison would be with the premium Virgin Atlantic credit card (as you can convert Virgin points into Hilton points and has a similar annual fee (£160)) This earns 1.5 Virgin points per £1 (would convert to 2.25 Hilton points) which is again higher than on the Currensea Hilton debit card.
   
2. Abroad the Hilton Plus debit card earns 3 points per £1 (1 more than any of Amex’s membership reward earning cards) and also benefits from zero FX fees compared to Amex’s 2.99%). This means on spend above £5,016.72 you will be saving on FX fees when accounting for the £150 fee of the Hilton card. Alternatively you could compare to the premium Virgin Atlantic card again, this has no FX fee on Euros, Swedish Kronor & Romanian Lei (outside of this it has 2.99% FX like Amex), but only earns 1.5 Virgin points per £1 (would convert to 2.25 Hilton points.)

Both benefit from additional points from staying at Hilton points (an extra 1 point per £1 on the standard earning rates for the basic card and an extra 1.5 points on the plus card, both in the UK and abroad.)

The biggest difference between the cards (other than the points earning and FX fees) is that with the Plus card you get instant Hilton Gold status (compared to Silver with the basic one.) With Gold you get space available upgrades and free breakfast which is a great perk if you stay in Hilton hotels regularly and one which could potential justify the £150 fee for you alone if you don’t hold status through another route.

Conclusion

The new Currensea Hilton debit card is an interesting proposition if you have lots of foreign currency spend, particularly if you spend a lot at Hilton hotels! Outside this the value is quite limited unless you want to pay £150 just to get Hiton Gold status. If you are interested in learning more or signing up you can do so here (and receive bonus points for signing up) – https://hiltonhonorsdebitcard.currensea.co.uk/refer-a-friend?utm_source=refer-a-friend&friend-referral-code=LBQBTG