Review on the Société Générale Kapsul card: unusable for travelers

Société Générale announces with great fanfare the launch of a new map: the Kapsul map.

Traditional banks must begin to panic as they see their customers gradually leaving for neo-banks with much lower rates and much more efficient services.

Among the advantages of this new card: the absence of exchange fees when used outside the euro zone. That’s what appealed to me!

For the travelers that we are, let’s see if the Kapsul map is relevant knowing that we will have to fight with :

• The foreign N26 and Revolut cards that we have been using for years
• The Boursorama Ultim card (which is a subsidiary of Société Générale!)
• The Max card which is very appreciated by some travelers but which refused us the registration without any justification
• The Nickel Chrome card (acquired by BNP Paribas)

First of all: how much does the Kapsul card cost?

The Kapsul card is charged 2 € / month or 24 € per year.

A price to be compared to the competitors :

• The N26 card costs between 0 and 202 € / year depending on the offer (the free offer charges withdrawal fees outside the euro zone)
• The Revolut card costs between €0 and €167 / year depending on the offer (the free offer charges fees for withdrawals outside the euro zone above €200 withdrawn per month)
• The Boursorama Ultim card is 100% free if used at least once a month (15 € / month otherwise)
• The Max card is 100% free of charge without any conditions
• The Nickel Chrome card costs 50 € / year

The Kapsul card therefore offers reasonable rates although it isn’t the cheapest offer.

Ridiculous ceilings

The Kapsul map has ceilings of :

• 1000€ maximum payment per month
• 300€ withdrawal per week maximum

For a traveler, the maximum payment can be very largely started after the payment of a plane ticket or accommodation for several weeks.

Note: this is a specific review for world tour operators / frequent travelers. If you stay only in France and have a lower level of spending, maybe the card will suit you

The maximum weekly withdrawal is very insufficient in some countries where everything is paid in cash.

By way of comparison, the ceilings are :

• At N26: €2,500 withdrawal per day and €5,000 payment per day.
• At Revolut: €3,500 withdrawal per day and €100,000 payment per month.
• At Boursorama Ultim: €3,000 withdrawal per week and €20,000 payment per month.
• At Max: €1,000 withdrawal per week and €4,500 payment per month (well, if it works)
• At Nickel Chrome: €800 withdrawal per week and €5,000 payment per month

Who could seriously define such ridiculous ceilings? The Kapsul card is de facto unusable for travelers.

No withdrawal fees abroad? Lol!

I became interested in the Kapsul card because it is presented as “the Société Générale’s answer to neo-banking” and does not charge any fees when used abroad outside the euro zone.

I had a hard time finding the detailed pricing terms and it’s actually not as simple as that.

• Already, you have to subscribe to the “Unlimited ATM withdrawal package” option at €2/month to be exempt from ATM withdrawal fees in the euro zone. But there isn’t supposed to be a withdrawal fee in the euro zone since… 2002 !
• And you have to subscribe to the option “Carte collection option voyageur” which costs an additional €24 per year to be exempt from fees outside the euro zone.

All this within the limits of the ceilings mentioned above. Lol.

Application / Payment with mobile / Cashback

With Kapsul, Société Générale offers an application that catches up a little bit, for example, you will be able to benefit from real-time notifications when making payments or withdrawals.

The card is compatible with Apple Pay and Paylib, which is almost a standard today.

You can also benefit from cashback at many partners (1% at Fnac for example). Functionalities already available, it seems, for all Société Générale customers. So nothing very innovative. With a bit of luck you will be able to reimburse the card fees.

The detail that makes the difference

The detail that makes the difference, the innovation that will shake up the market, can be found on the 38th and last page of the “practical guide” of the Kapsul map.

Hang on, you can get a free genuine leather case with your initials marked in gold.

This is no joke.

To benefit from this priceless gift that makes N26 and Revolut tremble, you will need to call a number (not surcharged, yay!).

My opinion on the Kapsul map

As you can see, this offer makes me laugh.

For travelers, the ceilings simply make it unusable and I have a hard time seeing who might be interested.

By wishing to modernize, Société Générale is once again showing that it is an all-traditional bank, years behind some of its competitors.