FairFX Group, through its subsidiary Spectrum Payment Services Ltd, has been granted permission by the FCA to provide credit facilities acting as a broker.
Clearing this key regulatory hurdle allows the Group to offer a wide range of loan products to both its business and retail customers.
As FairFX will be acting as a broker, the loans will be provided by FCA authorised third party lenders. There will be no credit risk to the Group and the loans will not appear on FairFX’s balance sheet.
Having achieved this regulatory status, following significant investment in its digital banking platform in 2018 and 2019, the Group expects to launch an innovative, highly digitised revolving credit product in partnership with iwoca - an award-winning specialist lender to SME’s - in the coming months. It is intended that this will help small and medium sized businesses to apply and receive a decision in minutes and immediately receive funds. Business customers will be able to choose to receive funds directly into their account or onto prepaid card, either virtual or physical, which will be issued by FairFX Group under its Mastercard membership. With the benefit of FairFX’s membership of Faster Payments, funds could be spent directly and immediately; for instance, in cases where stock needs to be purchased or an urgent invoice be settled.
This development represents another step forward in the Group’s strategy to assist businesses, and in particular SME’s, with their cash-flow and growth ambitions. The Group has a pipeline of further innovative products and services set to launch later this year and beyond.
Adam Rigler, Managing Director of Banking Products at FairFX, commented: “I am delighted to be able to make this announcement as it is a key milestone on our journey to offering a full range of services to our customers. We now have a clear road ahead to roll out our card-based revolving credit product in the near future, which will radically simplify the process of applying for and receiving funds for a small or medium sized business.”
Ian Strafford-Taylor, CEO of FairFX Group, commented: “This announcement is another major step forward in our strategy of providing a full range of products to our SME customers. We have been working hard on the banking platform, with teams both in Chester and in London, since we acquired CardOne Banking in August 2017. Achieving direct membership of Faster Payments and now this regulatory approval are the tangible output of these efforts, and we will have more exciting product developments to announce in the coming months.”