Payset review: FCA-regulated multi-currency account

Payset fees

Payset charges up to 0.4% to receive an international transfer, with a £10 minimum, and up to 0.4% to send one, with a £12 minimum. Local receipts in EUR, USD or GBP start at £2, CHAPS payments out start at £15 and urgent payments at £20. Currency exchange across 38 pairs starts at 0.09%, on tiers that depend on the currencies and on market hours. Transfers between Payset customers are free and instant, at any volume.

The fees Payset does not list

Three charges sit outside the price list. Payset may bill a monthly access fee based on risk factors, shown only inside the account, which matters for any business it rates as high-risk. Its terms also allow a setup fee taken from the first incoming transfer, and they treat fees as confidential. An account idle for four months pays a monthly dormancy fee from the fifth month until the balance hits zero.

How do I cancel my Payset account?

Give Payset 30 days’ written notice: the agreement runs for a year and renews automatically, and a customer who closes before the anniversary covers Payset’s closing costs. Remaining funds go to another account in the customer’s name once fees are settled. Payset can also close an account left inactive for three months, freeze an incoming payment whose source raises suspicion, and suspend a transaction without giving reasons.

Opening a Payset account

The online application takes under ten minutes, and accounts go live in one to three business days. Payset asks what the company really does, its expected volumes, the countries it pays and gets paid from and the currencies it needs, then verifies directors and significant owners. Individuals provide photo ID, proof of address under three months old and their source of funds. Payset calls itself crypto-friendly, with some limitations.

How Payset protects client money

Client funds are segregated from Payset’s own, in a ring-fenced account at an authorised bank in the UK or EEA, or in low-risk assets held with a custodian, so other creditors cannot claim them if Payset fails. The FSCS deposit guarantee does not apply, since Payset is not a bank, and insolvency costs could take a small share in a failure.

Who runs Payset

Pay Set Limited holds FCA reference 900920 and was incorporated in England on 21 August 2018 under company number 11529161. Its office is at 9 Appold Street in the City of London, and its leadership team is named on the site. US customers are served through Airwallex US, a licensed money transmitter, with Evolve Bank and Trust for some banking services.

Payset strengths and limitations