Q: What should I do if I've forgotten my password?

Go to the login screen and click forgot password , this will bring up the next screen for you to enter your email address. Enter your email address and click continue. You will receive an email with further instructions. Note that you may need to check your spam folder for this. If you do not receive an email and it’s not in your spam folder, then please contact Support .

Question 1

What should I do if I've forgotten my password?

Accepted Answer

Go to the login screen and click forgot password, this will bring up the next screen for you to enter your email address.

Enter your email address and click continue. You will receive an email with further instructions. Note that you may need to check your spam folder for this.

If you do not receive an email and it’s not in your spam folder, then please contact Support.

Question 2

Do you add fees for negative interest rates?

Accepted Answer

Custody Fee/Negative Interest

As of 1st October 2022, the applicable total negative interest ‎rate is 0.00% (0.75% ECB rate + -0.25% markup = 0.50%, however, as we are a Payment Institution, not a Bank, we are not permitted to pay interest on funds held on account with us, so the EUR custody fee is adjusted to 0.00%) per annum on the average daily balance in a calendar month on Account held in EUR. Freemarket reserves the right to charge custody/negative interest fees with respect to any other currencies which attract negative interest rate fees in the future.

Why do we charge custody/negative interest fee?

This fee is charged to recover our costs associated with holding funds in a particular currency. It includes negative interest reference rates, which are set by central banks, such as the ECB for funds held in EUR. In addition to the negative interest rates, our mark-up over the reference rate includes certain additional cost components we have to consider, including any other costs such as ECB deposit facility rates passed on to Freemarket by its banking partners.

Normally, banks do not pass their costs on to their customers as they can use the deposit base for lending activities, but due to regulatory restrictions all funds held for payment service providers like Freemarket must be 100% liquid, and so these additional costs are charged to clients like Freemarket.

Thus, as an example, the ECB base reference rate for EUR is currently +0.75% and mark-up is -0.25%, giving a total negative interest rate of +0.50% per annum for EUR balances held on account. However, as we are a Payment Institution, not a bank, we are not permitted to pay interest on funds held on account with us, so the EUR custody fee is adjusted to 0.00%.

Negative Interest Fee Illustration:

A transfer to your account of €100,000 was made on 1st April 2022 and you have given us instructions for an onward transfer of €50,000 on 16th April 2022. There have been no withdrawals from your Freemarket account since then. The remaining balance on your account on 30th April is €50,000. The average daily balance for the month is therefore €75,000 (€100,000 for 15 days and €50,000 for 15 days) The applicable total negative interest rate is 0.25% per annum based on the average daily balance in a calendar month on account held in EUR. Thus, you would be automatically charged €15.63 (€75,000 * 0.25% / 360 *30).

Effective Dates: the new rates as set out in the table below are effective as follows:

New Clients:

Corporate: 1st October 2022

Small Charity & Micro Enterprise: 1st October 2022

Existing Clients:

Corporate: 1st October 2022

Small Charity & Micro Enterprise: 1st October 2022

*As of the Effective Date and Subject to Change without notice.

**Total Interest Rate as of the Effective Date. The total interest rate is indicative only and subject to change without notice.

***Actual 360 is the method that calculates interest daily by counting the number of days in the calendar but uses a fixed 360 length.

****Adjusted to 0.00 as no custody fee is chargeable as total interest rate after applying Bank Mark-up is positive.

Question 3

How long does it take to get my currency once I have exchanged?

Accepted Answer

We make every effort to deliver the funds that you have exchanged on the same business day, so you can make frictionless payments in an instant. Nevertheless, on rare occasions, the exchange may take place at the close of business, in which case the funds may not arrive until the next business day. Of course, we will always keep you informed of any updates we may have. You can reach us by phone, email, and mail if you have any questions.

Question 4

When will my account be account be approved, rejected or reviewed?

Accepted Answer

When you complete the registration process, the platform should display a notice informing you that your account has been successfully established and is now being assessed by our compliance team.

Although we make every attempt to render the registration process as simple as possible, it may take up to 60 days before your Freemarket account is completely operational and you are able to utilise us for payment services.

It costs nothing to open an account with us, but we reserve the right to do so in accordance with our terms and conditions, with a 60-day notice period for consumers and 30 days for businesses.

After registering, your account should be evaluated within 48 hours, however, occasionally it may take longer since our compliance staff is still examining your application. You will be informed by a Relationship Manager when your account is ready for B2B payments & currency exchange and if we require any additional documentation from you.

Question 5

What is Freemarket's risk appetite?

Accepted Answer

Freemarket’s risk appetite is the aggregate level of risk that it is willing to assume within its risk capacity and in line with the business model, culture and ethics. Freemarket takes an appropriate risk-based approach to achieve its strategic and commercial objectives. The aim of this document is to provide guidelines on what types of business and associated risks the company would find acceptable and unacceptable.

Within the overall risk framework, Freemarket has robust systems and controls that are proportionate to the nature and scale of the business, and which continually evolve to mitigate financial crime. With these systems and controls, Freemarket aims to Deter, Detect and Disrupt financial crime. Maintaining these and treating customers fairly, is at the heart of Freemarket and such standards are expected from all stakeholders. Freemarket has stringent procedures regarding the governance of its risk framework and strict policies in relation to PEP’s, illegal activity, sanctioned counterparties, criminals, and individuals associated with terrorism. In recognition of the scale and extent of the business’s systems and policies, Freemarket prohibits payments from the following activities:

Understanding what’s prohibited

In recognition of the scale and extent of the business’s systems and policies, Freemarket prohibits engaging or pursuing clients that fall within the following set of criteria.

Prohibited Locations

Onboarding of a company with any UBO’s, Directors or Operations resident in or websites targeting the following sanctioned countries: Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, Russia.

You can view our unsupported jurisdictions list for a full list of countries we do not do business in or with.

Prohibited Businesses

The following list of categories of businesses and business practices are explicitly prohibited from using our services and platform:

Businesses operating or running Hawala (informal banking system)
Companies engaged in or providing illegal drugs and / or unlicensed drug related activity
Unregulated pharmaceuticals / food supplement companies (nutraceuticals)
Activities relating to defence and munitions, including dual use
Adult websites or services with prostitution, and the broadcasting/publication of pornography
Binary Options or unregulated investment and / or payment services activities
Companies formed of bearer shares
Company structures which include solely nominee directors; there must always be individual directors
Companies dealing in counterfeit goods
Cultural artefacts, ivory or other items related to protected species, or archaeological, historical, and religious significance, or of rare scientific value
Companies structured and operating on Piracy or illegal streaming
Political / religious organisations engaged in hate speech
Pyramid Schemes / multi-level marketing (MLM)
Companies dealing in non-electronic funds
Unregulated or Shell Banks
Shell companies (a company having no physical presence, no employees or no commercial activity in its registered jurisdiction)
‘Get rich quick’ schemes (proposal to pay high rates of return over a small period in return for a small investment)
Unregulated charities
Banks not located/domiciled onshore

Additional requirements for the following industries

Clients who fall into any one of the four verticals identified below must meet an initial set of criteria and further set of vertical specific criteria to onboard with Freemarket.

Initial risk assessment criteria

Must have no AML/CTF failings/fines that have not been sufficiently remediated
Must adhere to Freemarket’s Industry specific policies i.e. FI Control Framework, Gambling Policy, Crypto Policy
Must adhere to regulatory limitations applicable to the jurisdiction of their client-base

Further risk assessment criteria by vertical

The following are the additional risk assessment criteria to evaluate prospective clients by.

Question 6

Can I have a vIBAN for cross-border payments?

Accepted Answer

What is a vIBAN?

A virtual IBAN is an IBAN (International Bank Account Number) reference issued by a bank to allow incoming payments to be rerouted to a different, physical bank account.

Virtual IBAN accounts can be used to send and receive payments worldwide, allowing businesses to extend their value chain to provide settlement services to its global clients.

Freemarket and vIBAN accounts

Freemarket can request a vIBAN on the clients’s behalf to a bank for multiple currencies. This will allow the client to provide their own account number stating their own company name instead of Freemarket’s for B2B payments.

The request should be placed with a Relationship Manager. We will follow the internal compliance procedure to create the account on your behalf.

How does the vIBAN work?

From the client’s point of view, a virtual IBAN works in exactly the same way as a regular IBAN account – once they make a payment, their funds will end up in the physical bank account linked to the virtual IBAN.

The vIBAN account is made of:

Account owner name: the client’s name (to be provided by the client – must be the company registered company name or individual’s legal name).

BIC: A bank identifier code (BIC) is a unique identifier for a specific financial institution. This will be provided by the bank upon vIBAN creation.

In addition, the bank can provide:

Sort code: identifies both the bank (in the first digit or the first two digits) and the branch where the account is held.

Account number: the domestic bank account number.

Question 7

What are the withdrawal transaction charges?

Accepted Answer

The possibility to apply OUR and SHA fees to withdrawals has been made available by Freemarket.

SHA (Shared): The recipient will be charged fees from other banks handling the payment in addition to the payer paying the Freemarket fee for the withdrawal.
OUR: The payer will bear the Freemarket cost in addition to any additional fees incurred by other banks executing the payment.

The different cost charge categories will be provided for selection when making a withdrawal. The charge for the transaction will vary depending on the type selected.

Steps to be followed are outlined below:

Step one

Log into the platform.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/yQbK8TpEr5/Withdrawal-Transaction-Charges-image-1.jpeg (Withdrawal Transaction Charges)

Step two

Head to balances and select an account to withdraw funds.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/xvQcOhpwsJ/Withdrawal-Transaction-Charges-image-2.jpeg (Withdrawal Transaction Charges)

Step three

Beneficiary selection step will follow:

a. Depending on the payment destination country, transaction Charges option will or will not be displayed: i. Payment outside the European Economic Area (EEA)1 region: SHA/OUR option will be available:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/BeyTFm0ato/Withdrawal-Transaction-Charges-image-3.jpeg (Withdrawal Transaction Charges)

An explanation of the different charges available will be shown when hovering over the (i) tooltip.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/LeE8eSDVAJ/Withdrawal-Transaction-Charges-image-4.jpeg (Withdrawal Transaction Charges)

ii. Payment within EEA region: SHA/OUR option will not be displayed as all payments within the EEA region will be defaulted to SHA.

Step four

After selecting the desired transaction charges, the payment will need to be confirmed and the details will be displayed. A breakdown of the service fee will be available, and the transaction charges selected.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/MWlQo1zVF3/Withdrawal-Transaction-Charges-image-5-2048x1476.jpeg (Withdrawal Transaction Charges)

(1) EEA countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Question 8

What is a scheduled exchange?

Accepted Answer

Scheduled exchanges are the unique mechanism by which we are able to achieve mid-market rates of exchange. By using peer-to-peer technology and aggregating our client’s requirements into one exchange we can optimise the opportunity to match currency and deliver the best possible rate for all involved.

Here’s how we do it:

Step one: clients transfer funds into their segregated Freemarket escrow account

The nature of the scheduled exchange requires us to operate a pre-funded model, as this is how we are able to match our clients’ currencies – achieving mid-market rates. This means that client’s must transfer the required funds in their entirety prior to the scheduled exchange taking place.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/3junOv9K5E/Screenshot-2019-10-23-at-11.31.35.png (Customer transfer overview)

Step two: clients book their payment order via the platform

After the exchange procedure is complete, you let us know whether you want to buy or sell, the currencies you want to use for the transaction, and where you need the funds allocated. You will then be included to the following exchange that is scheduled.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/jzzkEQKGAE/Screenshot-2019-10-29-at-13.34.16.png (Booking exchange instruction overview)

Step three: The scheduled exchange takes place

Depending upon the currency pairing and demand we operate exchanges at periodic intervals throughout the day, with a minimum of one scheduled exchange at midday.

We aim to achieve mid-market rates as often as possible, for as many participants as possible. If your funds are wholly matched with other participants, you both achieve the mid-market rate. If an exchange is incompletely matched, you benefit from our market buying power. We pass on the institutional rate from our network of global banks onto all parties and provide a true banking as a service.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/pPLqgSm3BO/Screenshot-2019-11-14-at-10.15.00-1024x226.png (Step 3 overview)

Step four: we pay out to your nominated beneficiary

That's it; we transfer the transferred funds to your chosen bank account.

Question 9

What are the steps to register for an account with you?

Accepted Answer

Our registration process is straightforward, and we endeavour to complete all applications as soon as possible. Your account with us becomes active once we have concluded all required compliance checks, which we will notify you about.

In order to complete certain checks, we may first ask you for some basic information. You must provide information about the business you are applying for an account with in order to create an account. When registering for an account, it would be simpler and easier if you have all the information in one area since this would make the application process go more smoothly.

To expedite the process, we've given you the option and availability to search for registered firms. To activate this service, type two characters then it will appear. If you are fully regulated, submit your personal information together with any supporting documents so that our systems can cross-reference it.

You must then finish the "transaction profile" next. This aids our compliance team in understanding the nature and regularity of your company transactions for the purposes of KYC. Your assigned Relationship Manager is also given access to these insights, which enables them to provide you with the best possible support.

After completing the transaction profile, you will be prompted to provide the primary account user's personal information (this could be you or another individual at the company).

The next question will ask you to verify that you're the sole director of the company you are registering on behalf of, an authorised agent or employee, or a company director. If the director information you give does not match what is stated in the company's legal documents, the registration may be delayed, and your account may potentially be refused.

You must provide all the information about business owners or individuals who hold a controlling stake in the company in the section that follows. Please make sure that the information is accurate because you can add numerous owners or persons with control.

After providing the essential account information, you will be asked to submit additional documentation so that we can confirm your identity for AML and KYC purposes. Please be advised that expired or invalid forms of identification will be rejected, and your account won't be created until the proper documentation has been provided. The full passport number (with the chevrons) or the licence ID on the driver's licence must be uploaded after an image of your passport or driver's licence.

After you have accepted our terms and conditions and verified that the information you have supplied is accurate, you are complete. Your browser will send you to a confirmation page that includes our contact information in case you need to get in touch with us. If there are any problems or if we need further information, a Relationship Manager will reach out to you.

You will receive an email notifying you that your account has been created once our requirements have been satisfied and all required documentation has been submitted. At that point, you may begin to make instant payments.

Question 10

Do you make payments to third parties?

Accepted Answer

Before a payment is made to a new beneficiary the account must be checked in order to authenticate its validity and the account is not fraudulent. Once this stage is complete, we can freely make payments to third parties.