Curve Card in the use abroad
Curve swallows DKB? 😉
The Curve Card is currently considered the new super credit card and it is indeed a super-tool for us smart bank customers. Thanks to it, even our community grows, because owners of the Sparkasse and Volksbank’s credit cards can try risklessly and switch-free the advantages of really smart bank products.
What the Curve Card exactly is, which advantages it provides and how to apply for it, you can find out in this guest article ► All in One!
Curve Card: A must-have for journeys abroad
Journeys abroad, especially if they take place in countries with another currency, bear challenges for us bank customers:
- additional fees because of the currency exchange
(in the price listing of banks and Sparkasse it is often called foreign transaction fee) - insecurities about fees at withdrawing cash
(some banks do not charge withdrawal fees, but a foreign currency fee; sometimes, fees are charged directly at the ATM) - credit card fraud
(copying of credit card data and use for illegal activities) - expenditure control
(How much money converted have I already used?)
The smart solution by Curve:
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Curve does not charge the foreign transaction fee and processes the currency exchange using interbank rates.
Advantage for you: All your credit cards that you “upload” to Curve become free from the foreign transaction fee. Curve bears the currency exchange using very good rates. Every use of your existing card becomes a Euro-payment and therefore free of charge!
-
Curve does not charge fees for cash withdrawals
Advantage for you: Through Curve, you can withdraw free of charge even with your Sparkasse-credit card.
A bummer: The withdrawal limits per month are not particularly high.
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The risk of becoming a credit card fraud victim is considerably minimised.
Advantage for you: You save the ways or calls to complaint and possibly to report at the police, if fraudsters have used copies of your card. You can block the card at any time through the Curve-app. You cannot make withdrawals from a blocked card.
In Curve, you can also upload foreign credit cards (credit + debit, but no prepaid)
No thrilling point for you?
Okay, then you have not been a victim of such crimes yet and I hope that you never will. I know from my own experience that this is a unnecessary and ugly additional effort.
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How much money did I really spent?
You might ask yourself this question, especially in countries with a big difference in the exchange rate to the Euro. Now you only need to open your Curve-app and see all made transactions with its exchange calculation on a spot. Practical, isn’t it?
Do I only need the Curve Card in the future?
No. You will always need one (or optionally several) credit card that you upload into the Curve Card. However, you might not need many good credit cards, like we present them on this special portal since years, because Curve compensates very many disadvantages of other cards.
But I would never go on a journey just with the Curve Card alone. A double safety makes you feel comfortable and who knows me, knows: I take the best supplement, from my point of view, with me. The DKB Visa Card.
Supplement Curve with DKB Visa Card (ideal combination)
 DKB Visa Card |
 Curve Mastercard |
|
| Annual fee | free of charge! | |
| Opening of a linked current account? | yes (free of charge) |
no |
| Application | ► online | ► online |
| Credit line | ||
| initial credit line (immediately after card application) |
Euros 100 up to 1,000 (without proof of salary) |
without uses the credit line of the uploaded card; Note: own limits! |
| maximum credit line | Euros 15,000 (up to 3-times the salary) |
|
| Can the credit line be incremented through deposits? | yes (millions are possible) |
|
| Credit card payments | ||
| Fee for payments in Euros | none | |
| Fee for payments in foreign currencies | none | |
| This is a big difference to almost all other credit cards. Normally a foreign transaction fee in the amount of 1–3 per cent applies! | ||
| Cash supply | ||
| at every ATM around the globe that accepts Visa or Mastercards | free of charge | |
| Foreign currency fee | none | |
| Daily limit | Euros 1,000 | about Euros 225 £ 200 |
| Monthly limit | Euros 30,000 | about Euros 4,000 £ 3,500 |
| Minimum withdrawal amount | Euros 50 | – |
| Interest-free period | ||
| concerning all transactions | up to the 22nd of the following month (maximum of 4 weeks) |
no own loan interest, made payments are immediately debited from the uploaded card |
| Loan interest | ||
| … if you comply cleverly with all conditions … | 0 per cent | |
| … if you do not settle the account on time | 6.90 % from the day of the settlement with the current account (overdraft facility interest rate) | |
| How can I avoid the loan interest? | having enough balance in the current account on the day of settlement (22nd of the month) | |
| Service extras for smart bank customers | ||
| telephone customer service | yes Mon–Sun around the clock |
no |
| emergency card within 48 hours around the globe | yes (free of charge) |
no |
| emergency cash (immediately available for pick-up at Western Union) | yes (3 % counter fee) |
no |
| Online-vault (for important documents) | yes (free of charge) |
no |
| Partner cards | yes (as a joint account or up to 2 authorized persons) |
no |
| Card application | ||
| Place of residence | Germany, Austria, Switzerland + German expats | Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Repulic, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden planned: France, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Spain In the future also: France, Greece, Portugal, Romania, Spain |
| Credit card application: |  www.dkb.de |
www.imaginecurve.com |
| Please give me feedback through the comments feature on what credit card you decided for, also the reason why. This way, we can better enlarge on the smart use (tips and tricks) in future articles. A heartly thanks for choosing DeutschesKonto.ORG for your research! |
||
I have taken both cards with me on the current trip to the USA for the yearly intensive workshop of the Aufsteiger-Training (achiever-training).
Of course, I was curious to find out which card would provide me with the best exchange rate. Both do not charge the foreign transaction fee! Please take a look for yourself:
Exactly the same amount has been paid at the same time. But then, the challenges began:
- First, the USD 60 (the price of the massage) was booked. When I took a look at the reserved transaction at the DKB in the online banking, I was happy that the DKB Visa Card was 4 cent cheaper than Curve (Euros 52.25 compared to Euros 52.29).
- Apparently, the tip was added a few hours later. At the DKB, the reserved Euros 52.25 turned into Euros 55.86.
It’s a pity that I have not saved the screen shot of the reserved transactions. - The additional entry through Curve created a second entry: Euros 52.29 + Euros 3.49 = Euros 55.78.
If I make a test again, I will pay attention that it won’t become complicated through an additional tip entry.
This is, of course, just a snapshot and can be different tomorrow. However, the exchange rates are great at both providers!
Why do I always carry the DKB Visa Card with me?
Of course, I have uploaded the DKB Visa Card as well as my other credit cards into the app and I must admit: For the sake of comprehensibility, I have preferred to pay with the Curve Card, although it is debited from my DKB-credit card account in the end.
The control of expenditures in the Curve-app is simply great!
The limits of Curve
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… are fastly reached when withdrawing cash. The DKB provides a much larger leeway with Euros 1,000 per day.
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When making a deposit for the rental card, the DKB Visa Card uploaded into the Curve-app was not recognized as a credit card. Finally, you can “block” the card again through the app.
The rental car company wanted more information and documents and after the long-distance flight, I preferred to use the DKB Visa Card. I never ever had requests when paying a deposit with it!
Tip for entrepreneurs
Expenditures with the Curve Card can be reasigned retrospectively to another submitted card. This is very practical, if you have not thought of changing the card within the app or this could not be made because of a missing internet connection.
Even with only one card, you can divide private from business expenditures comfortably.
Recommendation for action for you:
Supplement you card portfolio today with a highly professional and powerful card:
- If you are already a DKB-customer, then get the Curve Card.
- If you are already a Curve-customer, then check, whether you should get a meaningful supplement through the best credit card ( from my point of view).
Video from the author for you:
Event for our frequent readers: There will be a live-webinar with tips and tricks on the Curve Card soon, in which you can ask all your questions. Date, inscription and further information is provided through our Sunday mail.
Articles lovely commented on by smart bank customers:
- Now Santander instead of DKB Visa Card?
- Secret advice: Finance cheaper through a car loan ◄ clever solution
- Current account of the future?
Hi,
Reading the limits section of Curve conditions a found a paragraph that I don’t know how what it means (below):
“Curve (free) customers: Up to a spend of £500 per month – no currency conversion fees will be charged. From £501 and above (cumulative) a month, you will be charged an additional 2% as currency conversion fees.”
This means if I make a payment of 500 GBP abroad, curve will process the first 500 for free and then charge 2% in the remaining 100?