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 can I access with my account?

Accepted Answer

Depending on the agreements you have in place with us, you could be given access to additional currencies. We may alter our risk tolerance and profile depending on the client's needs. The prior transactions in any currency that has been paid in the past will be displayed on the platform's balances tab. Along with the prior transactions, it will also display the fees or charges associated with the payments.

For example; you may have access to AED, CAD, EUR, GBP, USD with Bank A, then CHF, HKD, THB, ZAR with Bank B, then BWP, CZK, HUF, INR, JPY, SEK with Bank C. By using Freemarket, we aggregate the service offered by our partner banks, so you can rest easy that your money is safe and secure. Once onboarded you gain access to all the currencies listed, on one platform & one contract instead of having multiple agreements in place with each different bank, and different commercials.

You can view our currency calendar here.

Question 5

Which currencies does Freemarket support?

Accepted Answer

Freemarket offers our clients a B2B cross-border payments platform that allows them to send payments in 140 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, BBD, BGN, BHD, BWP, CAD, CHF, CZK, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, HRK, HUF, ILS, INR, JOD, JPY, KES, KWD, KZT, MAD, MUR, MXN, NOK, NZD, OMR, PLN, QAR, RMB, RON, SAR, SEK, SGD, THB, TND, TRY, TTD, TZS, UGX, USD, XCD, ZAR.

We are able to use a number of payment rails for your transaction, just instruct us how to proceed.

It’s best to discuss which countries, currencies, and payment rails with your Relationship Manager or reach out to our support team.

Question 6

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, withdrawals and foreign exchange. Freemarket’s own funds must be held in different bank accounts.

Question 7

Why hasn't the beneficiary received the funds?

Accepted Answer

There are a several stages for the payment order to successfully happen and for the funds to successfully reach the beneficiary. During the transaction the platform may state that the transaction is now complete, but the beneficiary has not received the funds, there could be a number of reasons for this, for example, we could be safeguarding the funds or have earmarked them as part of the payment order.

If the withdrawal is marked as ‘Completed’ on the platform, our operations team has given the instructions to withdraw the funds on our end to the beneficiary that you have chosen. If the funds are taking longer to reach the beneficiary, it could be due to the beneficiary’s bank processing the payment, bank holidays delaying a payment, or additional compliance checks being performed by the recipient’s bank.

Question 8

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 9

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 10

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.