Knight Frank launches Currensea card for employee charity donations

Employees will be able to round up their purchases and donate their saved FX fees to charity.

Image source: Unsplash.

Property consultancy Knight Frank is partnering with Currensea to offer its employees a debit card that will give them the option to make charitable donations and reduce FX fees abroad.

The open banking-enabled debit card will link to existing bank accounts and can be used in the UK and abroad.

The new card comes as part of an updated benefits package that coincides with the appointment of Will Beardmore-Gray as the new group chair.

“Knight Frank’s new employee benefits package is a great example of how organisations can introduce initiatives that encourage employees to support vital causes close to their hearts, whilst also saving money themselves,” Currensea co-founder James Lynn.

Currensea’s card will give users access to the best FX rates, at 0–0.5 per cent above the base rate, it says, with high street banks typically charging 3–5 per cent per transaction abroad.

Customers will then have the option to donate all or part of the savings on FX fees to charity.

Knight Frank employees will also be able to donate to charity by rounding up their spending to the nearest 5p when they are in the UK.

The company has chosen for all donations to go to marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage.

“The introduction of the scheme supports our ESG ambitions as we become the first corporate partner to offer the charitable giving feature – allowing our people to donate some, or all, of their exchange rate savings to a great cause,” Beardmore-Gray said.

This is Currensea’s first corporate partnership and the latest in its ‘powered by’ programme that allows businesses and and charities to issue branded cards to roundup UK spending and convert savings on overseas purchases into charitable donations.