Banking Without Borders
00:06:20 · Jan Watermann, Jonny Pease
[00:06:20] S1: Yeah, let me do that, Jonny. Um hope isn't lost. Trade Republic, for example, um, is really, really competitive. And I think it's quite quite similar to what trading 212 has to offer. So they're offering 1% of save back. Um, it's essentially cashback that's being invested into an investment vehicle you have to select beforehand, and that's kept at 15 euros per month. I think that's somewhat competitive, right? Um, probably the best uh option that's available in a lot of countries um that's not crypto related, at least the best I can think of. If you have any other idea, any other thoughts, uh feel free to write that into the into the comments below. So 15 euros you can earn a month, that's the absolute maximum, and you can make the math. If you really max that card out, that's 180 euros a year. I think that's pretty competitive. So that's a good option. And besides that, we um we have sum up, which is also available in the European Union, pretty competitive as well. [00:07:12] S0: Yes.
00:07:12 · Jonny Pease, Jan Watermann
[00:07:12] S0: Yes. [00:07:13] S1: SumUp offers uh, I believe it's 2% on supermarkets and groceries, and then half a percent on everything else. Plus, there's a feature that you get uh 5%, I believe it was on merchants that um yeah, when you transact with merchants that use the sum up card terminal. So the sum up card terminal very popular among small business owners. You'll see that in cafes typically, maybe small restaurants, right? Because it's really easy to use. Um, and every time you transact with this card reader, you'd get five percent. And it can be huge, especially if you're often dining out in cafes. Um, you know, you really enjoy your life, let's say, let's call it like that. I think that can be a really, really attractive option. Um, one thing to keep in mind though, Jonny, I think the cap is 10 euros a month of cashback every 30 days. [00:07:59] S0: Yeah, UK and EU. Yeah, 10 pounds, 10, 10 euros. [00:08:02] S1: You want to talk about crack next? [00:08:04] S0: Yeah, crack, crack, crack, crack. Also available in the UK and in the EU. Do they differ at all in the options? I think it's pretty much the same across both networks. [00:08:13] S1: I think it's the same, yeah.
00:08:14 · Jonny Pease
[00:08:14] S0: Krak is an interesting product, it has a number of benefits beyond the cashback opportunities that you can earn. But ultimately the cashback you can earn on a crack card is gonna be dependent on how much money you can invest in Kraken, how much money you can deposit within your account. And if you want to get 2% cashback, which is the top tier, you're gonna have to deposit 50k yan, which I think is it's a big ask. It's a big ask. Look, I mean try it. It that yeah, there's a couple of things to weigh up there. It's like, well, there's also some risk associated with investing in Kraken. You know, look at what just happened to Binance, that doesn't help, but you're not gonna get deposit protection. Um you know, you're gonna get deposit protection on savings accounts, whether you're in the UK or in the EU. You know, and then if you if you go down to a smaller deposit number, say if you deposit 10,000 pounds, you get 1.5% cash back. If you deposit £1,000, you get 1% cash back. So if you want to match what trading 2 1 and 2 are offering, you're gonna have to hit 10k. Then you're gonna have to ask the question well, that comes with risk, okay. And what if I put 10k into a savings account? How much interest can I earn on that? Uh savings accounts in the EU aren't that competitive. Here in the UK, we know look at depositscout.com, you can earn 5% on 10k quite easily and earn 500 quid across a year. Ugh, you know, what are crack gonna pay you on a thousand pounds spent a month across a year? They're gonna pay you 180 pounds on 1.5%. They're gonna match trading two on two for you, but you could earn that in interest on the 10k that you've deposited in Kraken. Is that making sense? Yeah, it makes a lot of sense, Jonny.
00:09:43 · Jan Watermann, Jonny Pease
[00:09:43] S1: I appreciate your holistic view on this. I really appreciate that because a lot of people, I think they, you know, they get sidetracked, they see that number, um, and then they get tempted to sign up, deposit that money, but they don't really think about the the interest they're literally missing out on, um, in most cases, at least. Obviously, their workarounds to earn interest through through stable coins, for example, you can also do through kraken, but yeah, it's not a savings account, it's not as competitive as a savings account. So, yeah, really have to have a holistic view when choosing this kind of product, in my opinion. [00:10:13] S0: It just goes to show how powerful that trading two-on-two card was, wasn't it? Because even if you were having to invest the money, there was no fee, there was no question, there was no uh small print of what you needed to do to get that rate. You were just given it. I don't want to ponder on this too much because I know we're losing it, and I know a lot of people are really sad about this. You know, when you when you start to look way up what our options are, it really does go to show how good it was. Here in the UK, Jan, Chase UK sticks out, doesn't it? Um, we've all heard about it, we'll know about it. They're offering, they're paying as much as 2% on certain categories of spending. I just think that we all know about this, Jan. Do we need to talk about it too much?
00:10:54 · Jan Watermann
[00:10:54] S1: Nah, probably not. Maybe just quickly the the categories UK groceries, transport, fuel, restaurants, cafes, takeaways. I think that can be solid, and the cap is 20 pounds a month. Um, so yeah, I think that's solid, right? For a lot of people, obviously they're not solely spending their money in these categories, but I think it can be a really good option, um, even as a primary card, because uh the bank account that's below it, very, very competitive and um generally very good savor as well attached to it. You know, maybe it's a mixture of all of these options, you know. Um you just gotta look at your personal spending every single month, what categories you're spending money in, and then combine these cards, you know, because each of them have strengths and weaknesses, and just yeah, combine one's strength with the other one's weaknesses, and then find your perfect stack. Zopa could be a good option as well. Three percent of cash pick, but I believe that's on certain categories as well. So that's um what's that dining out?
00:11:47 · Jonny Pease
[00:11:47] S0: Um I think you can select between dining out bakeries, takeaways, restaurants. You can also have cash back on direct debits, bills. We've talked about this multiple times. Um it seems I think it's a solid alternative. It seems on paper like a solid alternative, but then you can only earn up to £54 a year, which it's no joke. If you're not earning anything on your direct debits, then take it. Why wouldn't you? But at the same time, it doesn't touch the £180 that Trading 212 were offering. You know, it's it's okay, Jan, I think, for us to stand here and say, well, we have some alternatives for you, but we're a bit limited right now. And there's probably gonna be some sort of power vacuum now as a result of this card going. I'm sure of it. I would imagine that we're going to see other providers come through with something better. Q1, maybe of the new year, like 2027 Q1, like you're gonna see it. Like when people start to think about how they're spending money. Potentially. Um, that that might happen. But right now, as it stands, like please get in the comments, jump in our Discord, I'll pop a QR code on the on the screen if you have any other suggestions. We we frequently don't we, Jan, get a lot of interesting crypto suggestions. Um, and I I know they're out there and I know they do exist, but of course they come with some skepticism, which I think you have to appreciate. I I welcome anything. I mean, I I really do at this point. Yeah, because I'm I'm thinking too, mate, what am I gonna do with my international spending? I've got the Lloyd's Ultra card, but that's gonna run out soon.