Regulatory Controls
Your money in safe hands
You can be safe in the knowledge that Optimal Currency will ensure the safety and security of your International Transfers. We are fully Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the provision of payment services and for compliance with the Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulations. As an Authorised Payment Institution (API) we hold the highest level of authorisation in the UK for making your payments. It also means we comply with strict rules on how we conduct our business, treat our customers and secure and protect our customers funds and sensitive data. Optimal Currency’s Firm Registration Number (FRN) with the FCA is 830790 and you can find us and information about us on the FCA Register
Safeguarding your funds
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Well capitalised company
Vitally, Optimal Currency is authorised under permission 5 (issuing payment services) as well as permission 6 (money remittance) of the Payment Services Regulations meaning Optimal Currency has capital adequacy requirements over six times higher than those firms authorised for money remittance only.
The Capital Adequacy requirements are minimum levels of the firm’s own capital that must be held in order to ensure the safe running of the firm.
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Compliance and Operations
The team at Optimal Currency have a combined industry experience of over 65 years and have assisted in successful international transfers of over £1Bn.
Optimal Currency has an independent Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) who has over a decade’s worth of experience as an MLRO in this sector and holds an ICA Diploma in Anti Money Laundering.
We have in house Compliance and Operations departments. Unlike many companies we have chosen not to outsource these functions overseas in order to reduce overhead costs. We believe the best outcome for our customers is a fast and compliant service where our dedicated brokers, compliance staff and operations team are all able to efficiently serve our customers needs with no chance of an international communications breakdown.
Your payments and transfers are screened thoroughly and efficiently by our in house compliance team to ensure each and every transfer is verified prior to processing. This approach allows Optimal Currency to maintain the highest regulatory standards and gives you peace of mind that your transactions are being handled by a responsible payments service provider.
Years Experience
Customer Charter
Our customer charter is here to inform you, our customers, about the level of service you can expect when doing business with us and what to do if you’re unhappy and feel the need to complain. It’s really important to us that any problems are identified and rectified quickly.
Our customer charter consists of four key undertakings:
- We seek to ensure the well-being and success of our customers at all times.
- We will optimise the process of exchanging currency so that it is easy and efficient for our customers.
- We promise always to listen to our customers, record feedback and seek to improve our processes as a result of customer feedback.
- If a customer is unhappy for any reason we will do everything that we can to rectify the situation to the customer’s satisfaction.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Optimal Currency is an Authorised Payments Institution under the Payment Services Regulations 2017. If you want to find more information please visit the FCA’s website, they’re the UK regulator for currency brokers.
Your funds are always secured at Optimal Currency. In the vast majority of cases, client payments are made the same day that the funds are received and you will have confirmation that your currency is on the way. In cases where we have to hold your funds for longer, such as the margin deposit for a Forward Contract, then your funds are held in a separate client account for your benefit only. Should for any reason Optimal Currency cease trading, client funds would be returned.
Payments from third parties are generally not acceptable due to the strict regulations we adhere to. There are several circumstances such as receiving the proceeds of a property sale from Solicitors or Notary’s that are absolutely fine. Be sure to chat with your dedicated broker before you send funds to us just be on the safe side, we don’t want to delay your payments unnecessarily.
