Curve’s standard card offers most of its features for free and usually they’re more than enough to suit the needs of a user with an average lifestyle.
However, if you’re a frequent traveller, Curve Black may have something for you.
What is Curve Black?
Curve Black is 1 of 3 paid-for plans from Curve. Halfway between Curve X (£4.99 a month) and the more luxurious Curve Metal (£14.99 a month), it offers a decent series of perks to frequent travellers in return for a not-too-expensive monthly fee of £9.99.
In case you’re in need of a revision, Curve is the service that allows you to merge all your cards into one. You connect all your Visa or Mastercard cards to the Curve app, then you can leave them home and only take the Curve card with you.
When you need to make a payment, you select which of your cards you want the money to be taken from through the app, hand the Curve card to the cashier, et voilà, no more going around with an overly swollen wallet in your pocket.
Curve Black fees, limits and benefits
Curve Black costs £9.99 a month. In return, you get a higher limit for foreign ATM withdrawals and currency exchange, plus some extra perks. More specifically, Curve Black comes with:
Unlimited fee-free transactions abroad (on weekdays). While the standard Curve and Curve X plans limit this to £1,000 and £2,000 per month respectively, and charge a 2% fee after that, you can spend as much as you want out of the country with Curve Black. This is subject to a fair use policy of £15,000 per year, beyond which a fee of 2% may apply. However, all Curve options charge an extra fee (normally 0.5%) on currency exchange for transactions made during the weekend, when the markets are closed.
Up to £400 fee-free ATM withdrawals abroad. This is compared to a limit of £200 for Curve Standard and Curve X. If you go above, you’ll be charged a 2% fee.
1% cashback at six premium retailers as an introductory offer. Retailers include universally popular services such as Amazon and Netflix. Be aware that reward points expire 6 months after the date they were added to your card.
Travel insurance. Covers medical emergencies, cancellations, delays and more.
Crypto Rewards. Choose to earn rewards in cryptocurrency rather than Curve Cash points.
Customer protection. Covers purchases made on your card up to £100,000.
Curve Black vs Curve Metal
Curve Metal has all the benefits of Curve Black, plus a fancy metal card (in black, rose and blue, you can choose), fee-free foreign ATM withdrawals up to £600 a month and car hire excess insurance. You’ll also be able to enjoy airport lounge-key access and mobile phone insurance. Plus cashback can be earned at 6 selected retailers, compared to the 3 with Curve Black..
Curve Metal costs £14.99 a month, but if you pay the whole year in advance, it comes for £150, or a more competitive £12.50 a month.
Also, while you can cancel your Black membership anytime, if you subscribe to Curve Metal you can’t opt out for the first 6 months, unless you pay a £50 fee.
How to get Curve Black
If you’re new to Curve, you need to download the app, then you’ll be able to select which Curve option you want to get.
If you already use Curve, once you open up the app, go to the “card” app, then to “manage subscription” and select the “Black” tab. Once you’ve subscribed, you’ll receive your new Black card in a few days.
Customer service information for Curve Black
Email support
Telephone support
In-app or live chat
Contact form
Branch support
The verdict: Is Curve Black worth it?
You need to travel quite often to make the most out of Curve Black. If you enjoy your yearly vacation abroad but have solid roots in Britain during the remaining 11 months and a half, it’s probably not worth the fee.
However, things are different if you’re out of the country quite a bit, especially if you travel somewhere where you need a lot of cash, for example, if you’re headed towards more rural areas in Asia, Africa or South America. The travel insurance is also decent value for money and allows you to travel worry-free.
Frequently asked questions
Curve isn’t a bank, but is still regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. Since it doesn’t technically keep your money at any point, you’re not in danger of losing it if Curve were to go bust. All the data Curve manages is encrypted and in line with industry standards.
You can downgrade your Curve membership from the app anytime.
Curve allows you to switch the card you’ve used to make a payment, up to a set number of days after the payment itself took place. Go Back In Time is free for all Curve users, but the number of days varies depending on the plan. Curve Black customers have up to 90 days (compared to 30 for the standard plan).
Not at the moment (January 2023). In early 2019, Curve announced it was working again with Amex, but had to suspend that just a few days after.
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Valentina Cipriani was a writer at Finder UK. She wrote news, features and guides about banking and credit cards, helping people to improve their financial lives. She holds an MA in International Journalism. See full bio
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