Caxton

Caxton is a UK money transfer and currency specialist, not a bank. It offers a free multi-currency account for holding and exchanging money, international payments to accounts in other countries, and prepaid Mastercard currency cards for spending abroad. Customers use it to send money overseas for things such as property purchases, bills paid in another currency, or regular commitments like a foreign mortgage, and to spend when travelling without the fees a bank might add¹.

Caxton is a currency and payments specialist, not a bank, and it has been moving money for customers since 2002¹. Its core offering is a free multi-currency account for holding and exchanging foreign currencies, alongside prepaid currency cards for spending abroad and international payment services covering 195 countries and more than 30 currencies². Because it is an e-money firm rather than a bank, money you hold with Caxton is safeguarded rather than protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which is an important difference explained later on this page³.

An international money transfer, in the words of the Financial Ombudsman Service, "allows people to send funds from a UK account to another account in different country"⁴. Caxton is one of a number of firms offering this alongside the money transfers services of high street banks, and this page explains what it sells, how its charges work, how to complain, and what protection your money has.

What Caxton offers: multi-currency account, international payments and travel cards

Caxton's core product is a multi-currency account, which Caxton states is free to open¹. It lets you hold balances in more than 30 currencies and receive, exchange and send money across 195 countries². You fund it from your UK bank account, exchange pounds into the currencies you need, and then either spend from the balance on a Caxton card or send it on to an account abroad. Caxton says every multi-currency account comes with access to a dedicated account manager, which is unusual compared with app-only currency services².

Alongside the account sit Caxton's currency cards, prepaid Mastercards you load with the currencies you hold. Caxton states its currency cards allow you to spend abroad without fees, and its terms describe the card's primary purpose as use overseas². The range includes a standard prepaid card and a Red Account card, which Caxton says carries the best exchange rates of its currency cards². The Red Account card is issued by a third-party card issuer under Mastercard, and carries an annual fee, unlike the standard card⁸. Prepaid cards work only with money you have already loaded: there is no borrowing, no credit check in the sense of a credit facility, and nothing to repay.

The third product is international payments: exchanging pounds for another currency and sending it to a bank account in another country, whether as a one-off transfer or on a repeating schedule through Caxton's Regular Payments Plan. Caxton describes itself as well suited to large overseas payments such as property purchases, investments or business transactions¹. None of these products is a current account, savings account or loan: for those you would look at current accounts or savings from a bank or building society.

How Caxton's exchange rates and charges work

Caxton states that it offers "competitive, transparent exchange rates based on the live market, with no hidden fees added later"¹. In practice that means the cost of a transfer is mostly inside the exchange rate: Caxton quotes you a rate for your trade, and the difference between that rate and the pure market rate is where the firm makes its money. The rate you are shown is the rate you get if you accept it within the quote's validity window, which for a Regular Payments Plan quote is five minutes⁹.

On top of the rate, some services carry explicit charges. Caxton states that it does not charge handling or standard transfer fees on multi-currency accounts, and that there is no mandatory monthly or account-keeping fee for standard personal multi-currency accounts². Its Red Account international payments service charges a fee for each international payment, and separate fees apply for tracing a payment that has gone missing or amending the details of a SWIFT payment³. The cards have their own schedule: the standard card has no purchase or annual fee, but an account management fee applies in months when the card has seen no activity over the previous twelve months, and charges apply to some cash withdrawals and balance enquiries⁷. The Red Account card has an annual fee, charges for domestic cash machine use beyond a free annual allowance, and a fee for international over-the-counter cash withdrawals⁸.

Because fees and rates change, check Caxton's own site for today's figures before you commit. What matters when comparing Caxton with a bank or another currency firm is the total cost: the exchange rate you are quoted plus any transfer or card fees, and whether the receiving bank abroad will make its own deduction. Caxton's terms require you to check the confirmation it sends you and report any error within twelve hours of receiving a contract note, so read the figures on it as soon as it arrives³.

Sending money abroad with Caxton, including large transfers

A transfer with Caxton starts with funding your account from your UK bank, then agreeing a trade at a quoted rate, then directing the money to the receiving account abroad. Caxton states that transfer times depend on the destination country, the currency and the local banking systems, but that many payments are completed the same or the next working day¹. You are notified when your trade is placed and again when it is completed¹.

For large transfers, such as paying for a property abroad, Caxton says it is well suited to these payments and that larger transfers may be eligible for preferential rates if you request a call with an account manager¹. This is where a currency specialist differs most from a bank: rather than accepting whatever rate your bank offers on the day, you can discuss timing, watch the rate and place the trade when you are happy, or ask an account manager about the approach that suits your payment¹. If you are buying a home overseas, the money side sits alongside the legal process described in our guide to buying a home, and the general rules for moving money across borders are covered in money abroad.

Two practical points from Caxton's terms are worth knowing before you send a large sum. First, check the contract note against what you agreed within twelve hours, because that is the window Caxton gives you to report an error or omission³. Second, if a payment does not arrive, there is a formal trace process, for which Caxton charges a fee, and a fee also applies if the payment details need to be amended after the SWIFT payment has been sent³. Getting the receiving account details right first time avoids both charges.

Regular Payments Plan: fixed monthly transfers to one recipient

Caxton's Regular Payments Plan is for people who need to send the same amount abroad every month: a mortgage on a foreign property, support for family overseas, or bills in another currency. By agreeing to the plan, "You agree to making a series of monthly payments with the purpose of sending a fixed monthly sum to a fixed recipient"⁹. The recipient and the amount do not vary from month to month; what the plan fixes is the pound amount you pay in and the schedule on which Caxton converts and sends it.

To set one up, you must already be a Caxton International Payments customer, and you must set the plan up through your online account⁹. The first payment is taken when you sign up, and the monthly payment day is then fixed⁹. When you set the plan up you are given a plan quote, which is valid for five minutes, after which the setup process alerts you that the quote has expired and you need a fresh one⁹. The client money behind these plans is held separately from Caxton's own money in a designated Client Trust Account⁹.

This kind of arrangement is a recurring payment in the general sense: the Financial Ombudsman Service describes regular payments as "automatic payments set up on your account to pay bills, subscriptions and for other ongoing services"¹⁰. The difference from a standing order or direct debit is that the plan is a contract with Caxton covering a series of currency trades, not an instruction to your bank, so cancelling it works differently, as the next section explains. Neither spot foreign exchange nor payment services fall under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme⁹.

Cancelling or changing a Regular Payments Plan

The single most important thing to understand about a Caxton plan is that it is not flexible once agreed. Caxton's terms state plainly: "Once agreed and entered into, the Regular Payments Plan cannot be changed without incurring charges"⁹. Caxton is unable to permit changes to the plan currency, the plan amount, the plan period or the monthly payment day⁹. If your circumstances change, a bigger or smaller monthly transfer means cancelling the existing plan and setting up a new one, not amending the old one.

What cancellation costs depends on which type of plan you have. If you have a GBP Plan, there are no cancellation charges⁹. If you have a Currency Plan, an administration fee plus any applicable Reversal Loss will be due⁹. The Reversal Loss depends on the exchange rate difference between when you set the plan up and the cancellation date, applied to the currency you do not take delivery of⁹. In other words, if rates have moved against the position Caxton took for you, cancelling can cost more than the administration fee alone.

Missing a payment has consequences. Caxton's terms provide that "In the event of non-payment after 72 hours Caxton will cancel Your Plan and the Cancellation terms will apply"⁹. There is also a timing trap: if you cancel less than five days before the next plan payment is due, that payment may still be taken from the debit card you set up for the plan⁹. So if you intend to stop the plan, cancelling well ahead of the payment day avoids one more deduction. This is different from cancelling a recurring card payment, where the rules say you can cancel by contacting the business taking the payment and asking them to stop, and your card provider must also act if you ask it to¹¹; a Caxton plan is a contractual series of currency trades, so the cancellation terms above govern it.

Managing your money: rate alerts, trade confirmations and account managers

Caxton gives customers tools to manage the timing of exchanges rather than converting on autopilot. You can "Set rate alerts and keep an eye on how rates shift over time, transfer when you are happy with the rate"¹. You are also kept informed of each trade: "Get notified when your trade is placed and again when it's completed, so you're always in the loop"¹. For anyone sending money regularly, rate alerts matter, because the exchange rate applied to each monthly transfer is the biggest single driver of what the recipient actually receives.

The other management tool is human. Every multi-currency account comes with a dedicated account manager, and you can choose to place trades and make transfers independently, or "speak with a Caxton account manager for guidance on rates, timing, and your overall payment strategy"¹. For larger transfers, requesting a call with an account manager may unlock preferential rates². Caxton also communicates with card customers by WhatsApp, and its terms allow you to opt out of WhatsApp communications at any time by emailing or calling card@caxton.io⁷.

A few obligations sit on your side of the relationship. Caxton's terms require you to notify it of any error or omission in a confirmation within twelve hours of receiving a contract note³. For unauthorised or incorrectly executed payment transactions, a refund claim must be made no later than thirteen months after the debit date³. On the card side, Caxton's terms state you will not be liable for losses from an unauthorised transaction arising after you notify it, or where the card has been used in a card-not-present environment, except where you have acted fraudulently⁸. If your card is lost or stolen, contact Caxton promptly so it can be blocked.

Complaints and the Financial Ombudsman Service

If something goes wrong, complain to Caxton first. Its terms commit it to acknowledging complaints and to providing "a final response within 15 working days", occasionally extended to 35 working days "for reasons beyond Our control"³. Caxton's card terms add that retail clients may be able to refer a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service free of charge, but must do so within six months of the date of the resolution⁷.

If you are not satisfied with Caxton's final response, or if eight weeks pass without one, you can take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the free independent body that settles disputes between consumers and financial firms. Its terms state: "If You are not satisfied with Our final response You may be able to refer Your complaint to The Financial Ombudsman Service"³. The ombudsman can look at money transfer complaints, including cases where a payment was delayed, went to the wrong place, or the exchange rate or fees were not as expected⁴. You can fill in the ombudsman's complaint form, phone it, or email it; its contact details are on its website. The wider rules on your rights when things go wrong are covered in our guide to consumer protection.

How Caxton protects your money: safeguarding, not FSCS cover

This is the section that matters most for anyone holding a significant balance with Caxton. Caxton is not a bank, and money held with it is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Caxton's own terms say so: "it is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme"⁷. The reason is structural: FSCS explains that it "can't protect e-money or payment services firms", while its deposit protection covers deposits, current accounts and savings accounts at banks and building societies¹³. Caxton's terms make the same point from the other direction: neither spot foreign exchange nor payment services fall under the scheme⁹.

What you have instead is safeguarding. Caxton states that once it has received your funds, they are deposited in a secure account separate from its own money⁷. For its international payments service, it holds clients' money separately from the firm's own money in a designated Client Trust Account³. Safeguarding is a legal requirement on the firm, not an insurance policy on your money: it exists to keep customers' funds out of reach of the firm's creditors if it fails.

The limits of safeguarding are set out in Caxton's own terms, which warn that in the unlikely event the firm becomes insolvent, your funds may become valueless and unusable and you may lose all of your money⁸. The same terms note that funds against which electronic money has already been issued are protected against claims made by creditors in the event of insolvency⁸. In a failure, customers claim against the safeguarded funds, and any shortfall, for example from the costs of the insolvency itself, would be borne by customers. FSCS explains that it may "look-through" a payments firm to compensate its customers if the firm's UK safeguarding bank fails, but that it "does not cover cases where the payments firm itself fails"¹⁴. When a similar e-money firm, Premier Payment Solutions Ltd, entered liquidation, the position was spelt out plainly: "The FSCS only applies to certain types of activity and does not cover payment services"¹⁵.

The practical implication is simple: money held with Caxton is for the currency you need to hold and the payments you need to make, not a place to park long-term savings. Savings that you want protected belong with a bank or building society covered by FSCS, covered in our guide to savings accounts. Independent commentary on e-money firms makes the same point: customers should be told their money is safeguarded, "but make it clear that FSCS protection does not apply"¹⁶.

Caxton's history and name

Caxton is a long-established name in UK currency services. The company behind it was incorporated on 5 December 2002 and remains active, and Caxton says thousands of customers have transferred money with it since 2002¹. It previously traded as Caxton FX Ltd and Caxton FX Limited before adopting the Caxton name⁶. It is also supervised by HMRC for anti-money laundering purposes³.

For customers, the name change is cosmetic: the firm and the terms are continuous. If you held an account in the Caxton FX days, it is the same relationship under the current name. The firm's registered address and company number (04610337) can be checked on the Companies House register, and its status on the FCA Register⁶.