Curve, what it is and how it works

It is possible that we have heard of the existence of many financial services that we can have through our mobile, Curve is one of the most recent and somewhat unknown in Spain. Not because it is more unknown does it stop being interesting, so let's see what Curve is and how this service works

The world of finance has evolved a lot hand in hand with that of technology, since we can make mobile payments through our smart watch, mobile and even have a checking account on the other side of the world without having to travel to that country.

Most users have several cards to which we give a different use, one to make purchases, get gas or drink something, another to make purchases online…. In the end we find that we have multiple cards, and it is possible that each card belongs to a different bank.

Curve is the attempt to unify all our cards in just one It is not a bank, but a physical card that can be multiple cards at once. Like Revolut or Bnext, it works through an app which is essential for the control and operation of the service.

As with Bnext or Revolut, once we have signed up for Curve, the next step is to receive our physical Curve card. We can wait for it to arrive or, on the contrary, add the different cards that we have to the app and thus not have to do it when we receive it.

In the Curve app we will add the different cards that we already have, whether debit or credit. When we have added them, since the main advantage of Curve is precisely being able to use several cards from the same app, we won't have to have to carry the card that we are using physically.

How do I pay if I don't have the physical card

Thanks to the Curve card, we select this card in the Curve app and the physical card that we receive at home that does not have It does not have credit at any cost, but what we do through it is that the charges are transferred to the other immediately.

Although from the Curve app we can choose the card with which we want to pay at any time, we always we recommend having the Curve card and one additionallyin case the service fails. It does it from time to time in some places such as tolls, where there are more conflicts with prepaid cards, among others.

The app as a control center

As we have already mentioned, the Curve app is essential but, apart from the fact that it is through which we add the different cards, we can view the different expenses what we have done with each one of them, a balance of expenses, block them in case they have been stolen or even see the PIN.

Through the app, we can also send and receive money between other users who use the service. Curve, as in some fintech, has the possibility of enjoying some advantages in certain services such as insurance, loans, accounts…

Curve Advantages

Throughout the article we have seen many of the advantages it has, but let's take a closer look:

1. Benefits: they give us back 1% of our purchases in the form of Curve cash (Curve currency which we can exchange for subscriptions to Netflix, Spotify, among others). This "cash back" will only be returned to us in some stores called "Top retailers".
2. Sending and receiving money: can be done between friends and in multiple currencies without any commission.
3. Management: There is the possibility of knowing the PIN of our cards and blocking them so that a charge cannot be made when they are blocked.
4. Charges: In the charges we can add the invoice of the site through a photo or a description, both being compatible at the same time.
5. Technology: The Curve card has NFC or contactless.
6. Notifications: There are real-time notifications of charges.

Curve Disadvantages

Curve is a really cool service and it can be very handy, but like most services it's not perfect and It has several disadvantages that we must assess if they affect us more or less when using the card.

1. There are some establishments where it fails when trying to pay, POS terminals are not always able to charge these cards, although in general there should be no major problem in most situations.
2. Does not support Google Pay, Apple Pay, or Samsung Pay.
3. App completely in English.
4. Some users experience problems when withdrawing money from ATMs, depending on the bank if it detects it the same as a debit card or not.
5. Has payment plans.

Paid plans vs free version, differences

Curve, like Revolut or N26, has payment cards, that is, we will have to pay a monthly payment almost always in poundsbecause Curve is an English service born in 2015 but is fully usable in Spain. We detail all the plans below:

Curve Blue, the free version

The free Curve card is called Curve Blue, in it we will find the following advantages:

1. All your cards in one.
2. Curve Card.
3. Support for Mastercard and Visa.
4. Curve Cash: They give us back 1% of our purchases in three stores for 90 days.
5. Possibility of withdrawing up to 200 pounds at ATMs per month for free.
6. Money-back guarantee up to 100,000 pounds.

Curve Black starting at 9.99 lbs/month

The intermediate version is called the Curve Black and costs £9.99 a month. These are the main characteristics of this card:

1. All your cards in one.
2. Curve Card.
3. Support for Mastercard and Visa.
4. Curve Cash: 1% of our purchases are returned to us in three stores Unlimited access to carry out operations with Forex.
5. Possibility of withdrawing up to 400 pounds at ATMs per month for free.
6. Money-back guarantee up to 100,000 pounds.
7. Worldwide travel and electronics insurance.

Curve metal, £14.99 per month

The version metal, which receives this name because the card that Curve sends us in this case, is built in this material and It has a cost of 14.99 pounds per month. The highlights of the Curve metal card are as follows:

1. All your cards in one.
2. Curve Card.
3. Support for Mastercard and Visa.
4. Curve card made of metal available in three colors.
5. Curve Cash: 1% of our purchases are returned to us in six stores Unlimited access to carry out operations with Forex.
6. Possibility of withdrawing up to 600 pounds at ATMs per month for free.
7. Money-back guarantee up to 100,000 pounds.
8. Travel insurance worldwide, electronic devices and rental car in case of collision.
9. Access to the "Lounge" area of ​​all airports in the world.

As we can see, each card has its advantages, but you must assess each one if they are good enough for the cost of the monthly payment that each one corresponds to. Almost all of them share services, although in some cases they are more or less complete.

Despite the fact that the currency is in pounds, it is not a problem since for the moment, the United Kingdom is within the European Union and on the company's website it indicates that there is no No kind of problem to use the Curve card in countries like Spain, France, Italy, etc.

What do you think about Curve? Is this useful to you?