Question 1

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 2

Where can I view my SSI's on the platform?

Accepted Answer

Your account information is essentially included in an SSI, or Standard Settlement Instructions. This information may be seen on the homepage's right-hand side.

Your account information, the accounts you have, and the available currencies to which you have access are listed. There will also be an overview of your vIBAN details.

When you top up or transfer on the platform you'll also see your details shown.

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Question 3

Where do I transfer funds?

Accepted Answer

Once you have completed registration and our compliance team is happy to proceed with authorising your Freemarket account you will gain access to us committing to providing resilience, security and speed to our clients.

In the platform you’ll see the bank details of our client-segregated accounts where you can transfer or move funds to for the payment order to be processed and executed.

Question 4

Which currencies does Freemarket support?

Accepted Answer

Freemarket offers our clients a B2B cross-border payments platform that allows them to send payments in 31 currencies to over 100 countries. Each currency that you request or do business in, we make sure one of our partners can cater to your needs.

Our collection capability and pay out options do differ – we evaluate this on a case-by-case basis.

We can collect: AED, AUD, CAD, CHF, CZK, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, HUF, ILS, JPY, MXN, NOK, NZD, PLN, RON, SAR, SEK, SGD, TRY, USD, ZAR.

We can pay out: AED, AUD, BHD, CAD, CHF, CNY, CZK, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, HUF, ILS, INR, JPY, KWD, MAD, MXN, NOK, NZD, OMR, PLN, QAR, RON, SAR, SEK, SGD, THB, TRY, USD, ZAR.

Question 5

Which types of transaction must be safeguarded?

Accepted Answer

In PSRs, safeguarding applies to what are described as ‘relevant funds’. These are defined as sums received:

from, or for the benefit of, the Payment Services User for the execution of a payment transaction, and
from another Payment Services Provider (either a bank or non-bank) for the execution of a payment transaction on behalf of a Payment Services User

Consequently, Freemarket is obliged to safeguard any monies you transact through us including bank transfers and withdrawals. Freemarket’s own funds must be held in different operational bank accounts.

Similarly above, Freemarket Ireland under the PSR 2018 is obliged to safeguard “user’s funds” in the same way.

For more information on our safeguarding processes please see our other articles on the subject here.

Question 6

Why hasn’t my exchange happened yet?

Accepted Answer

We endeavour to fulfil all orders and reconcile trades same-day. However, there may be some occasions where this doesn’t occur.

The exchange may have been booked after the cut-off time or the funds from the bank transfer have not been allocated to the exchange (the account number was used so the funds have been added to the balance but not the exchange reference number which is why the funds were not allocated to the exchange automatically).

For more information on our exchange and execution policy click here.

Question 7

Why is the amount which reaches the beneficiary sometimes less than the amount sent?

Accepted Answer

Since you gave us the order to exchange the currency, the exchange rate may have fluctuated. We don't cover this then recoup since we don't grant you credit; instead, we ask that you have a 2% buffer in place.

Our global network of banks and NBFIs, with which Freemarket has partnered up, gives us access to mid-market rates in real-time. This enhances your options and enables us to join bigger trading pools, ensuring that you receive the best prices possible.

Before completing a transaction, you will always get an updated quote when you make an exchange.

Question 8

Why was my account rejected?

Accepted Answer

You will receive an email from us informing you that your application was unsuccessful and declined by the platform, along with the reason(s) behind it.

It's possible that the application was turned down because it didn't match our risk tolerance. Freemarket takes an appropriate risk-based approach to achieve our strategic and commercial objectives. Further information on our risk appetite here and unsupported jurisdictions may be found here.

The application would be assessed by our risk team in conjunction with a Relationship Manager or a member of our support staff, who would also explain why it was turned down. They will be able to offer guidance and respond to any inquiries why your account wasn’t approved for payment solutions at this time.

Question 9

Why was my withdrawal cancelled?

Accepted Answer

If you received an automated communication informing you that your transaction has been cancelled don't panic if you didn't cancel it yourself. We may have cancelled it for the reasons mentioned below.

Reason 1: If the beneficiary details are missing some information, our operations team might rescind the transfer and require the client to create the beneficiary again using the correct information. Longer processing times may be experienced if incorrect information is provided when completing the withdrawal.

Reason 2: Another explanation might be that the rate provided at the time the client made the exchange was less favourable than the one our operations team ultimately secured for the exchange. To allow the client to affirm that transferring more funds to the beneficiary account is acceptable, the transaction is consequently immediately cancelled.

What to do if your transaction has been cancelled as a Freemarket client: email our client support team to investigate.