Curve Card Review

Curve®¹ offers a digital wallet you can use to unite all your debit and credit cards behind one Curve card. Simply spend with your physical Curve card - or using a mobile payment option like Google Pay® - and draw funds from your preferred debit or credit card directly, meaning no need to carry multiple cards in your wallet when you’re out and about.

Curve has some innovative and exciting features such as anti-embarrassment mode and its trademarked Go Back in Time® service, which can mean your existing cards can be used more flexibly. However, Curve doesn’t offer holding accounts, so you can’t maintain a balance, send or receive payments with Curve.

This guide runs through a full Curve Card UK review - plus we’ll introduce Wise as a good way to hold and exchange 40+ currencies, and send money to 160 countries, with low fees and the mid-market exchange rate. More on that later. For now, on with the Curve Card and account review.

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What is Curve - An overview

Curve is a digital wallet which comes with a physical and virtual Curve card. To use your Curve account you’ll need to add one or more of your existing credit and debit cards. You can then use your Curve card to spend conveniently from any linked card, plus there are some opportunities to save money or earn cash back depending on the account type you have.

A few Curve features make it stand out in a pretty busy market for digital wallets and cards. Firstly, their trademarked Go Back In Time® service. With this you can swipe a payment made up to a month ago (with the free account plan) and retrospectively change the payment card you used. This means, for example, that if you paid accidentally with one card which didn’t earn cashback and you later want to switch to the cashback card, you can (subject to limits based on the Curve account tier you have).

There’s also the anti-embarrassment mode which lets you have nominated back up cards which are automatically activated if the first one you pick is declined. We’ll walk through a few more of the features you can get with Curve accounts and the Curve Card, next.

Curve Card accounts, cards and fees

To use Curve you’ll need to download an app, register an account and add your preferred payment cards. Curve has different plans² which have their own features, including a standard plan with no monthly fee, through to the top tier account which will cost you 14.99 GBP a month. Depending on which account you pick you’ll get a set amount of fee free ATM withdrawals using your Curve Card, and could also access some weekday currency conversion which uses the mid-market exchange rate.

To get all the available features from Curve you’ll need to pay for one of the account tiers which have monthly fees - we’ll look at these next.

Curve account plan features

Curve UK customers can choose from the following account plans:

• Curve
• Curve X
• Curve Black
• Curve Metal

The features of each plan are very different. Here’s a quick rundown of the most important features to know about for each plan option.

Curve - the Curve standard plan has no monthly fee, but you can only add 2 linked payment cards, and set one smart rule (which dictates which card is used for which type of spending). You’ll be able to take out up to 200 GBP from an ATM abroad every month with no Curve fee, and spend in foreign currencies up to 1,000 GBP a month with no Curve exchange fees. Bear in mind that out of hours fees can apply here, though.

Curve X - the first Curve account with a monthly fee, you’ll pay 4.99 GBP/month, but can add 5 cards and 5 smart rules. You’ll also be able to spend up to 2,000 GBP in foreign currencies with no exchange fees from Curve, subject to out of hours fees.

Curve Black - for 9.99 GBP a month you can add unlimited cards, set unlimited smart rules and also get an unlimited amount of overseas spend with no weekday foreign exchange fee from Curve. At this level you also start to have the opportunity to earn Curve Cash - the Curve cashback program.

Curve Metal- the Curve Metal account tier has all the great features of the Black account with some extra luxury perks like a premium metal card, some extra insurance and airport lounge access.

Curve account plans - fee options

Curve offers 4 different account plans which each have their own features and differing monthly costs. It’s helpful to know that various extra costs may also apply depending on how you use your account. For example, currency exchange fees at the weekend can mean you pay a premium when buying something with your card.

Here’s a look at the most important Curve fees to know about - before you sign up for a new Curve account make sure you check out the full fee schedule in detail.

	Curve fee³
Open account	No fee
Monthly fee	Curve: No fee Curve X: 4.99 GBP/month Curve Black: 9.99 GBP/month Curve Metal: 14.99 GBP/month
ATM fees	Some fee free withdrawals every month based on account tier, fees of 2% (or 2 GBP, depending on which is greater) apply after that
Foreign transaction fees	Some fee free currency conversion every month based on account tier, fees of 2% apply after that Weekend and out of hours costs may also apply

*Fee information correct at time of research - 23rd August 2023

Curve saving accounts

Curve does not offer saving accounts. You won’t usually be holding a balance in your Curve account, but rather using Curve to pay directly from any of your linked debit or credit cards when you buy something or make a cash withdrawal. The only exception is if you choose to accumulate Curve Cash through the cash back scheme offered on higher tier account plans.

Want to save and earn a return on GBP and other currencies? Check out Wise Interest

If you’re more interested in an account you can use to hold a balance and earn returns on GBP, take a look at Wise instead.

Like Curve, Wise has a great app which lets you open your account for free using just your phone. You can then order a Wise debit card for spending, and hold 40+ currencies and exchange between them with the mid-market exchange rate and low, transparent fees.

Weighing up all of your options? Make sure to check the Wise multi-currency account.

It’s a convenient, low cost way to send, spend and receive money in 40+ currencies. But Wise also gives you something back - simply turn on Wise Interest and you can get a 4.70% variable* rate on your GBP balance. Your money is invested in an interest-earning fund that holds assets guaranteed by the government.

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Capital at risk. Current rates do not guarantee future growth.

*Variable rate is based on 7 day performance as of 14 Dec 2023. This fund has returned an 0.93% annual average over the last 5 years, excluding Wise and fund manager fees. See full 5 year past performance of funds.

Curve credit card

Curve does not offer a credit card of its own at the time of writing. But you can add your other credit cards to Curve to spend on them with your Curve card instead. There’s also Curve Flex⁴ which lets you split up payments you’ve already made into 3, 6, 9 or 11 monthly instalments. Effectively this means taking an unsecured loan from Curve, which you then repay, plus any relevant interest.

Curve Card international transfers and features

You can not send or receive international payments from your Curve account. However, you may be able to access some neat international card spending features when you get a Curve Card.

Curve Card international spending

If you use your Curve Card to spend in foreign currencies, your linked payment cards all adopt the Curve exchange rate. Curve states that this rate can include a lower markup than a bank may use, which could mean your spending works out less expensive in the end.

Need to send money abroad? Check out Wise

You can’t use Curve to send a payment overseas to be deposited into a bank account. Instead, if you need to pay an individual or business by international money transfer, check out a non-bank digital service like Wise.

With Wise you can send money to 160+ countries, in 40+ supported currencies, with payments often arriving instantly, or at least within 24 hours⁵. If you need to convert funds to send to an account abroad, you’ll get the mid-market exchange rate with low fees from 0.43%⁶. That can work out cheaper compared to using a bank - and because Wise values transparency, you’ll always be shown the costs of your payment split out clearly, upfront before you commit.

Curve Card app features and ease of use

Curve’s service is built around its app, and the linked payment card. The Curve app is well rated on iOS but slightly less so on Android:

• Google Play® - 3.1 out of 5 stars, from 50k+ reviews⁷
• Apple App store® - 4.6 out of 5 stars, from 15k+ reviews⁸

If you’re interested in Curve it’s a good idea to check out the features and usability of the app yourself. On Google Play over 1 million people have already downloaded the Curve app, so you’d be in good company.

Is the Curve Card safe in the UK?

Curve uses bank level security to keep your card details secure, and will always ask you to authenticate any card you add to your account for extra protection. You’ll be able to view and manage your cards in the Curve app, and can lock or unlock your Curve card there too. It's worth noting that any money you hold in Curve Cash (the Curve cash back programme) is not subject to FCSC protection in the way funds held in a bank are likely to be.

Requirements to open an account with Curve

Curve accounts and cards are available for UK and EEA residents with eligible debit or credit cards that can be added to the Curve account. You can add cards on major networks like Mastercard and Visa, but Amex cards aren’t supported at the time of writing.

How to easily transfer money with Wise

As we discovered earlier, Curve Card accounts can’t send or receive foreign currency payments - next time you need to transfer money overseas try Wise instead.

You can send a payment with Wise to 160+ countries, in 40+ currencies. 50% of Wise payments arrive instantly, and 90% are there in a day⁵. Plus you get the mid-market exchange rate every time with no markup and no hidden charges. All the costs are transparently split out, and start from just 0.43%⁶ depending on the currencies involved.

Here’s a step by step guide to sending money with Wise:

1. Download the Wise app for free
2. Register an account by entering your personal and contact information
3. Get verified by uploading a photo of your ID documents
4. Model the payment you want to make to get a fee and rate quote
5. Choose how you want to pay (bank transfer or card for example)
6. Check everything over and confirm - you’ll be prompted to pay using your chosen payment method

Open a Wise Account Today 🚀

Wise may request additional documents to verify a customer's identity

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Sources:

1. Curve
2. Curve account tiers
3. Curve subscription fees
4. Curve Flex
5. Speed: The speed of transaction claim depends on funds availability, approval by Wise's proprietary verification system and systems availability of our partners' banking system, and may not be available for all transactions
6. Pricing/fees: Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information
7. Curve Google Play
8. Curve App Store

Last check date: 23rd August 2023

Capital at risk. Growth not guaranteed. Wise Assets UK Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with registration number 839689. When facilitating access to Wise investment products, Wise Payments Ltd acts as an Introducer Appointed Representative of Wise Assets UK Ltd. Please be aware that we do not offer investment advice, and you may be liable for taxes on any earnings. If you’re uncertain, we urge you to seek professional advice. To find out more about the Funds, visit our website.