Question 1

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 2

How can I create a new payment order?

Accepted Answer

You will learn how to create a cross-border payment and receive instructions on how to add funds to your account in this section.

Step one: log into your account to create the order

Start by signing into your account here. If you don't currently have an account, you can create one here for free; registration typically is quick and easy, and after your application has been approved by compliance, your account can be switched to active.

The primary dashboard, from which you can access the platform, is where you'll be when you log in. You can create new payment orders on the exchange page by clicking the New Exchange button, which will lead you there. Even though you may create a new exchange instruction without any funds in your account, we advise clients to make a transfer first. Payment orders won't be carried out until the necessary funds are available.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/kHjvyMYkYU/Creating-a-new-exchange-instruction-Screenshot-1.png (Create a new exchange instruction)

Step two: transferring funds to your Freemarket account

You must move funds to your Freemarket account by accessing the add funds page, which is situated beneath the user details in the upper right corner of the website. Select the currency of the funds you want to exchange from the add funds page, and the necessary bank information will then show up on the screen.

You'll get an email confirmation with a breakdown of the transaction as soon as the funds are in your Freemarket account. You can create an a cross-border payment at this point (via the main menu navigation time).

Step three: creating a new payment order

We should discuss two components of the order. Depending on your needs, you can buy or sell currencies here. An overview of how the Buy and Sell capabilities and procedures work may be seen below.

Then, you'll be prompted to pick the 'Transaction Type,' with the option of Buy or Sell shown to you on the screen. Choose Buy if you are buying (for example, I need to buy approximately $20,000 using the equivalent amount in GBP). Choose Sell if you want to sell (for instance, I have £15,000 and want to convert it to the equivalent in euros).

You'll then be asked to provide the amount you want to sell or buy as well as the two currencies you'll use. You can see the available funds in the selected currency instantly below after choosing the currencies you wish to trade. Here you’ll be able to see the current exchange rate for your chosen currencies.

Keep in mind that this exchange rate is indicative and not guaranteed. For additional details on this, please see our Scheduled Exchanges page.

You'll see the option to use your existing funds immediately after the "required funds" information, which indicates how much the exchange will cost you. If you sent funds before preparing your exchange instruction, as we advise, it will show up here. If you didn't, if you want your exchange to be successful, you will need to transfer funds after creating the payment order.

The "Transaction Summary" is located on the right and includes the amount you are buying or selling, the exchange rate, the processing fee, the potential gain (the amount you could save on this transaction, depending on exchange rate fluctuations), and the required transfer. Also, you can decide here whether or not you wish to use the amount you already have.

In light of the aforementioned details and in order to get ready for the trade, let's go through the process of creating and concluding an exchange.

Choose the two currencies that will be used in the exchange next.

If you wish to sell a certain currency, for example, "I have £4,500 and I want to convert it to euros," your instructions would be as follows:

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/XfeWhbsaDk/Creating-a-new-exchange-instruction-Screenshot-2.png (Creating a new exchange instruction)

If you are buying a certain amount, such as, "I need to purchase €50,000 using Sterling to settle a European invoice," your order would be formatted as follows:

Note: the minimum exchange cost is the equivalent of £5,000 in another currency.

Step four: creating a beneficiary

The beneficiary selection page will appear after you complete the next step.

From here, you can choose an existing beneficiary or add a new one to determine where the funds will go. You might be new to exchanges, so let's start by adding a new beneficiary:

Then select "Create new beneficiary."

Remember that you're able to easily click on the icons to the left of the page to return to the "Transaction" page.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/0J2HAltYaN/Creating-a-new-exchange-instruction-Screenshot-3.png (Creating a new exchange instruction)

In the field that appears, type the account name of the chosen beneficiary, then choose the beneficiary's nationality.

Further input fields that are specific to the chosen country and currency will show up once the country has been selected.

You may additionally supply a payment reference and/or a description (optional).

Finally, you should choose transaction's rationale from the drop-down menu.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/Npl2E9xGvw/Creating-a-new-exchange-instruction-Screenshot-4.png (Creating a new exchange instruction)

To carry out your exchange instruction, click "Continue" at the bottom of the page after you've completed out all the necessary fields.

You will be requested to choose your bank if you have insufficient funds to complete the exchange or haven't transferred any funds (where your funds are coming from). Choose "Other banks inc. International" if your bank is not listed.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/nFwaq3q3qf/Creating-a-new-exchange-instruction-Screenshot-6.png (Creating a new exchange instruction)

Following your selection on a bank, you will see some transfer instructions and a connection to that bank's website (if available).

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/wvoa23CKmo/Creating-a-new-exchange-instruction-Screenshot-7.png (Creating a new exchange instruction)

Alternatively, a transaction confirmation screen should show in place of the transfer instructions if you already have enough money in your account.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/eia0SkeWv4/Screenshot-2019-10-29-at-13.04.19-1024x259.png (Exchange created)

Once the transaction has been completed, you will receive a confirmation email with an exchange summary file (typically within one day, based on the currency and time of transaction). The funds have been distributed and are now in your beneficiary's account after the trade was concluded.

Question 3

Is there a minimum or maximum amount that I can exchange?

Accepted Answer

Whilst we do have a minimum in place for transactions with us, which is £5,000 (or currency equivalent), we don’t have a maximum that you can transfer or exchange.

Most of our clients transact with us daily and their volumes alter month-by-month. We aim to be the only platform they use for currency exchange and international payments.

Enjoy a single platform that offers the speed, security, and resilience you need to unlock more currencies and markets for your business, while streamlining your cross-border payments processes.

Question 4

How do I know if my exchange has been completed?

Accepted Answer

We will send you two emails detailing the exchange breakdown and when we start to process the payment order. The first email will inform you as we have started to process your instruction and you will receive another email when the exchange is complete. The second email from support@wearefreemarket.com will include a statement with the full transaction details, including a breakdown of the rate achieved for the transaction.

Question 5

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 6

What is a foreign exchange spot transaction?

Accepted Answer

A spot FX trade is when the exchange or trade takes place at the same point the transaction is settled. You buy and sell the currency at the current market rate, also known as a spot price. Settlement usually occurs within the days preceding but due to our buying power, and us holding balances in different currencies, we can do this instantly.

Currency pairs may differ, you may trade, G10 currencies, minor pairs, emerging markets, or exotics. It’s worth noting that some currencies are less liquid than others, which might lead to a larger difference in the buy and sell price.

You can read more on FX trading from IG, CityIndex, Investopedia, CMC Markets & Refinitiv.

Question 7

Can I cancel an order once it has been created?

Accepted Answer

All incomplete payment orders are able to be located in the platform under the transactions page. Select the exchange or withdrawal that you would like to cancel and proceed to view the details if the transaction is correct. Make sure you are under the scheduled tab on the platform to correctly cancel the exchange. To cancel the exchange, click on ‘Cancel Exchange’ at the top right of the page. If the transaction was funded, all the funds will be returned to your account.

https://malcolm-en-gb.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/instances/fnDSsgZVaa/resources/KrLLLl9nDH/How-to-cancel-a-transaction-Screenshot-1.png (How to cancel a transaction)

Note: all cancelled transactions appear in the ‘Cancelled’ tab in the transactions page.

Question 8

What does a pending deposit mean?

Accepted Answer

A pending deposit represents a transaction in which our operations team has not yet allocated the funds. The reference that you have been given should be included in every bank transfer you make so that we can reconcile the funds when necessary.

A transfer won't be reconciled unless you give us confirmation of it. Our operations team may credit the account that you would like the funds to be added to by giving evidence, and this will be reflected up on your balances.

Question 9

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 10

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.