Knight Frank partners with Currensea to offer its employees debit cards for charity donations

By Joy Dumasia

Knight Frank, the property consultancy, is offering its 2,220 UK employees a company-branded, money-saving debit card which allows them to make charitable donations and reduce foreign exchange fees when spending abroad. The partnership with Currensea, which has created the open banking-enabled debit card linked to existing bank accounts, launches for use in the UK and abroad. 

The Knight Frank branded card has been made available to all UK employees as part of an updated benefits package, coinciding with the appointment of William Beardmore-Gray as new Chairman. Currensea uses open banking to connect directly to someone’s bank account with their approval, allowing travellers to make overseas transactions directly from funds in their current account. 

Currensea’s card allows users to access the best foreign exchange (FX) rates at only 0% to 0.5% above the FX base rate. High street banks typically charge 3-5% per transaction abroad, offering users savings of at least 85% on every overseas transaction as they avoid the normal fees charged by banks, and other card customers can then opt to donate all or part of these savings to charity. For example, a user spending $1500 while visiting the USA can choose to contribute 50% of their savings over £20 while still saving money on foreign exchange. 

Knight Frank employees will also be able to donate to charity by rounding up spending to the nearest 5p in the UK. All donations will go to Surfers Against Sewage, a marine conservation charity, with Gift Aid added. As the average charitable donation using the Currensea card is up to £30, total annual donations could exceed £66,000 if all Knight Frank’s UK employees opt for the card in their benefits package. 

This is Currensea’s first corporate partnership and the latest in Currensea’s unique ‘powered by’ programme, which allows businesses and charities to issue branded cards for users to round up UK spending and convert savings made on overseas spending into charity donations. Other partnerships include St Martin-in-the-Fields, a charity supporting the work of the iconic central London church, including helping women move away from homelessness. 

Will Beardmore-Gray, Senior Partner and Group Chair, Knight Frank, commented: “We are delighted to introduce Currensea at Knight Frank. 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 and one close to our hearts, Surfers Against Sewage.” 

James Lynn, Co-Founder of Currensea, said: “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. A branded card also provides a unique marketing benefit for Knight Frank, showcasing the firm and employee engagement through spend.” 

“This is our first corporate partnership since the launch of ‘powered-by’, and we’re very excited to work alongside Knight Frank to create a staff benefit unique to the UK. As travel returns to pre-pandemic normality and millions across the UK plan their summer trips, Currensea users can avoid the high foreign exchange fees they typically face when spending abroad – opting to donate some or all of the savings they make to Surfers Against Sewage, a charity doing hugely important work that also echoes our beliefs around sustainability.” 

“Similarly, rounding up spending is a simple way of supporting the causes we all care about, with a small contribution making a huge difference when every employee’s donation is taken into account.”