Fire EU Regulation
Fire Financial Services Limited (Fire-EU) is regulated as a Payment Institution (PI) by the Central Bank of Ireland, Reference No: C58301. Registered address: Dogpatch Labs, The CHQ Building, Custom House Quay, Dublin 1, Ireland. Registration No: 464819.
Fire UK Regulation
Fire Financial Services Limited (Fire-UK) is authorised as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) by the Financial Conduct Authority, Reference No: 900983. Registered Address: 41 Luke Street, London, United Kingdom, EC2A 4DP. Registration No: 11549793.
How does Fire keep your money safe?
As a Fire customer, it’s important to us that you should fully understand how your money is protected in your Fire account.
As a PI and an EMI, Fire protects your money through “safeguarding”; this is different to how your money is protected by Credit Institutions (banks) in the UK and Ireland. We believe it is important for customers to understand this difference.
How is your money protected at Fire?
For Payment Institutions and Electronic Money Institutions like Fire, safeguarding is a legal requirement in the UK and the EU. This process involves segregating customers’ funds into a separate account or trust arrangement at tier one credit institutions to ensure their protection in the event of business insolvency.
A safeguarding account is specifically designed to keep clients’ funds completely separate from Fire’s operational funds. This account, held with a regulated financial institution, contains only Fire customers’ money, which is never used for operational or lending purposes.
In the unlikely event that Fire ceases trading, the safeguarding account is protected from claims by other creditors. Customers would receive the majority of their money back, with only the insolvency practitioner’s distribution costs potentially deducted from their balances if Fire has no available funds.
In what way is safeguarding different from the protection given by Credit Institutions (or banks)?
Credit Institutions (banks) protect your money using an independent organisation called the Deposit Guarantee Scheme (“DGS”) in Ireland and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”) in the UK which protect customer money up to a limited amount. If a DGS/FSCS protected firm ceases trading, the DGS/FSCS will pay back eligible customers up to a maximum compensation amount. This happens regardless of whether the DGS/FSCS protected firm actually has that money.
The DGS/FSCS is not applicable to Fire if Fire ceases trading, our customers’ claims will be paid from the safeguarding account. As Fire cannot use this protected money, there will be enough in the safeguarding account to cover all customer balances (subject to insolvency practitioner costs mentioned above). The payout may take longer than it would with the DGS/FSCS.
How can you learn more?
You can read more within our Terms and Conditions or on the FCA’s website at https://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/using-payment-service-providers.
How do we compare to a high street bank?
Our service is different from that provided by high street banks. To help you decide if Fire is a good option for your business, please note that we do not provide credit, credit cards, loans or overdrafts. We do not support cheques and it is not possible to lodge cash to a Fire Business Account.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for choosing Fire. Should you have any questions, please contact us through our email – support@fire.com
If you have any queries about our services, please feel free to contact us too. It’s always best to ask before you start the application process.