Curve has been one of my very favorite fintech companies over the last few years.
Every time it seemed as if others were catching up, or their once innovative features were no longer entirely unique, they added new ones, like an ‘Anti-Embarrassment‘ mode, which ensures your card is never awkwardly declined. On date night, it’s hard to put a price on that little feature!
Curve continues to push into a variety of areas which make spending money easy, and maximizing rewards from the spending easier than ever, so I thought a little catch-up on what makes this transformative piece of metal, or plastic, such a “must” for any wallet.
For a limited time, they’re also offering GSTP readers £10 free, instead of the usual £5 sign up. That’s amazing.
The TL;DR On Curve
Curve is one card, which allows you to load all your other Visa and Mastercard rewards cards onto it. So, you can have things like a Virgin Atlantic Mastercard, IHG Rewards Card and other credit or debit cards, all in one. You just use the Curve app to switch between cards.
It’s not a credit card, and there’s no credit check to receive one. It just makes the way you use your cards better.
Part of the magic of Curve is that it converts everything into your home currency, so you can avoid foreign transaction fees abroad, and can actually earn cash back on top of whatever your card currently offers, on every purchase. Intriguing? Indeed.
Here’s 5 things which make this card a worthy addition to any wallet, particularly since the card doesn’t necessarily cost anything, unless you go for the baller version.
Avoid FX & ATM Fees On Cards
You read that right. Even when you spend with a rewards credit card which carries foreign transaction fees, you’re able to bypass them when spending abroad, by using Curve. You can also take out money abroad with no ATM fees, even if your bank would usually charge them.
Curve automatically converts the transaction in real time, into GBP (and yes, a US version is coming too), which means paying for a hotel in Paris, Tokyo or wherever you are won’t carry silly fees, which can add hundreds to your bill — for no good reason!
This allows you to always prioritize points earning cards over cards which don’t earn jack, without worrying about pesky fees.
An Extra 1% Cash Back On All Purchases
Curve can instantly make pretty much every credit or debit card in your wallet more lucrative. The short reason why is it stacks its own rewards onto your rewards.
Curve offers 1% back on all purchases (on top of what your underlying card offers) for the first 30 days you have it, but for every friend you refer to Curve, you get 30 more days — potentially forever.
With higher levels of the Curve Card, such as Curve Metal, you can earn an extra 1% back forever, on up to six of your favorite merchants or retailers. The list of places you can earn an extra 1% from doesn’t have “everyone”, but it’s pretty extensive.
Anti-Embarrassment Mode
Of all life’s awkward moments, I can’t think of one worse than the “sorry, your card has been declined”. It’s even worse when someone is watching along!
Curve launched ‘Anti-Embarrassment Mode’ to stop this from ever happening to all Curve Card users. The concept is that because Curve uses real time technology, if your preferred card is declined for any reason, you can specify an automatic back up card.
When you pay, if your main rewards card or debit card is declined, Curve will try your back up in real time, without the merchant ever knowing, or the annoying “declined” beep popping up. Basically, even if the first card is declined but the second works, the transaction will go through without issue.
Go Back In Time
The pursuit of rewards has rewards when you have a second player, but sometimes that second player, such as kids or a partner, isn’t quite as detailed about which card to use when, and where.
Go Back in Time from Curve allows you to re-run a purchase of up to £5,000 for up to 30 days, so if you or anyone else misses out on a rewards earning opportunity, you can swap the card used for a more rewarding card, up to 30 days after the initial transaction.
This is a great way to move purchases from an old card onto a new card when you’re trying to hit spending goals too. It’s just a really cool feature.
Refund Notifications
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably getting a fair few refunds coming through from cancelled trips. With Curve, you’re able to see when a refund comes through, even before it hits your actual rewards credit card or debit card linked to the app.
Not only that, it shows you the refunded amount versus the original amount, which helps to ensure the refund was processed properly.
I’ve had one too many encounters where refunds say they’re processed but still aren’t delivered weeks later, and this feature gives you a heads up that money should well and truly be moving, very soon.
Curve: Coming To America Too
I love Curve and use it daily. If you’d benefit from the card, which ranges from free to £14.99 per month, depending on the plan, you can sign up here, with no credit check. As mentioned, there’s a special £10 welcome right now for GSTP readers.
You get the card, make any purchase, and then you have £10 rewards waiting to be used on the next purchase. I’ve heard from the Curve Team that the card is indeed headed to the USA, which could be huge for the points earning world. If you want to get on the waitlist, you can do so here.
Great article. Do you think that it will be rolled out in Australia?
Hi Gilbert, now that Curve is responsible for underlying credit card accounts being terminated (Creation IHG), do you still promote this card so heavily?
Well, I would say that IHG Creation making an insane move to unilaterally cancel accounts isn’t really Curve’s fault. That was an overreaction to something which will costs them millions in card revenue. I haven’t written about Curve recently, so I don’t know what “so heavily” can mean.