A European replacement for Wallet: Curve (www.curve.com)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Location: United Kingdom, Ireland Note that the app isn't OS.

Curve is a Google wallet replacement app that consolidates multiple bank cards into a single smart card and digital wallet, making it easier to manage your finances. Here are some key points:

PRO:

Curve allows you to link multiple debit and credit cards to one Curve card, simplifying your wallet and making it easier to switch between accounts.
The app claim to offer robust security features, including instant card freezing, transaction notifications, and the ability to set spending limits.
Curve provides cashback and rewards on purchases, which can add up over time and provide extra value.
The app is intuitive and easy to navigate, with clear transaction histories and spending insights.
Go Back in Time: A unique feature that lets you switch the card used for a transaction after the purchase, providing flexibility and control.

CONS:

While the basic version is free, some premium features come with a subscription fee.
Curve is not available in all countries, however, should be available in all EU and the UK.
Isn't an Open Source app and very likely they will sell your transactions history to other company (like google)

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[-] [email protected] 27 points 1 month ago

okay, and who are they selling my transaction history to?

[-] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago

They got a privacy policy that tell you everything they do with your data. Isn't an open source app, isn't privacy focused and that's absolutely bad. But, my alternative is keep using Google. This is an alternative.

[-] [email protected] 13 points 1 month ago

You have a third option beyond "google as card aggregator" and "curve as card aggregator". Third option is no card aggregator.

[-] [email protected] 10 points 1 month ago

But bruh.... How will I digital?

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

I want an app like that just to be able to pay with my phone, the rest of functionalities are quite superfluous to me.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

There are two (really) good things about Curve:

no forex for your first 250€
fallback cards if the selected card declines the transaction

Otherwise, would not recommend

Edit: here https://feddit.it/post/17220902 they say that on Android it will work as an NFC wallet, so I'm wrong!

[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

Is there any other replacement for Google Wallet you would recommend?

[-] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

Hi OP! I didn’t mean to be negative, but it depends on what you use x Wallet for:

if you use to consolidate cards, then it will be a bit harder but it will accomplish the goal
if you use to pay from your phone, then there are a multitude of national apps, which UX this again a bit worse, imho. In Italy we have Satispay, then there's Wero Pay (DE, FR, BE, NL iirc), Swish (SE) and Mobile Pay (DK, FI and maybe NO). We should aim for a EU-wide payment app

[-] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

There is a project for a wide eu platform, it goes a bit further than that including other functionality, however, even if they started a few years ago, they didn't make massive progress. This is the only service based in Europe (UK) that provides service to all Europe.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Why not? Got Curve for about two years to make Amazon and other online payments with my otherwise unsupported Diners Club via Curve. Works really good. Although I wish there was a EU based payment system that's available everywhere...

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

That’s an edge case I didn’t consider. Diner’s cards aren’t so widespread.

Edit: there are a few cases where Curve is really useful, but not as an Apple/Google Wallet replacement

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

How on earth does combining cards work, and what on earth are the benefits (and drawbacks)?

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Ask them. I would never use that, got a card and it's more than enough, but...it might be useful for others.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Does the NFC payment feature work without Google Play?

[-] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Yes, it should work on a degoogled phone, that's my point in using it but there are some review on streaming platforms you might want to see. It's definitely working on E/OS.

I'm running some additional tests in the next few weeks.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Awesome! This was the one feature I was missing from EOS

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I think as other people mentioned, it's important to understand how data is used by this company. My assumption is that it will never be worst of Google, as they are a British company but you never know.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I'll be honest, I don't expect my purchases to ever be private, they are monetized by Mastercard, my bank, online payment providers like stripe and then the shop itself, no getting around that without regulation.

The reason I switched to EOS was because one day I found I don't know how to turn my phone off because Google put their shitty AI to the power button keybind, and I was fed up with my phone not doing what I expect.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I am not a huge fan of having multiple cards. Its economic suboptimization.

People tell me they get cashback, points and all sorts of advantages.

If you calculate the actual savings in euros, its not that impressive.

If you spend 10 000€ a year with 1% cashback. That's 100€. Which is more than nothing. However you can ignore the whole min/maxing with cards and just make a couple more meals from scratch, bring coffee instead of buying for a couple weeks, buy something used instead of new once or twice etc.

The time spent getting all these points and maximizing is often comprehensive. The credit card bill has to be paid every month, if you miss it once, then the whole thing was a waste of time. So you have to be certain. Checking if everything is paid is thus important.

Also they loyalty part is manipulative and might not actually be beneficial in many cases.

So I stick to my ONE debit card.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

You’d better cut out the avocado toast too. That’s the real budget killer.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

Haha, with a price of about 1.5 euros per avocado. You got to skip a lot of toasts 😂

this post was submitted on 07 May 2025

36 points (95.0% liked)

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