FairFX

FairFX is a prepaid currency card and international money transfer service, not a bank. It sells a prepaid Mastercard you load with foreign currency before you travel, and a linked card product that lets you hold and move money between currencies while you are away. It also handles larger transfers, including the kind of payment involved in buying a property overseas.

The brand is a trading name of Equals Money UK Limited, which is authorised and registered with the Financial Conduct Authority under firm reference number 504547¹. That matters for one practical reason: money held with an e-money or payment services firm is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, so the protection you get is safeguarding, not deposit insurance².

FairFX's own pages describe a UK-based customer service team reachable by live chat on weekdays and by email every day of the year⁴. Its card products are used in over 190 countries wherever Mastercard is accepted⁵.

What FairFX offers: prepaid currency cards and international transfers

FairFX's consumer business rests on two things. The first is a prepaid Mastercard, which the travel industry body ABTA describes in general terms as a card you load up with foreign currency before you travel⁶. The second is international transfers, which cover sending money to an account abroad and the larger, one-off payments that come with buying property in another country.

The prepaid card comes in two shapes. FairFX says customers can choose between shared or separate balance cards, which is aimed at families or groups travelling together and wanting either one pot or individual pots of money⁴. The linked card product is built for the same idea: cards that can be handed to other people while you keep control of the balance⁵.

On the transfer side, the practical use is a payment to an overseas bank account, whether that is a regular transfer to family or a single large payment for a property purchase. The mechanics are the same as any currency exchange: you buy the foreign currency at the rate offered at the time, and the money arrives in the recipient's account.

FairFX does not publish a single rate for all customers. The rate you get depends on the currency, the amount and the day, which is why the figure to work from is the one shown on its own site when you make the transaction. For the wider picture on how these services compare with bank transfers and other providers, see sending money in the UK and abroad.

How FairFX charges work on cards and currency exchange

FairFX's charges fall into two groups: what it costs to spend, and what it costs to move money between currencies.

That is the mechanism to understand: the card is cheap in the currencies it supports and more expensive in the ones it does not. Ordering the first card and ordering a linked card are both listed as free, and replacing a lost or stolen card is free for the first replacement and £6 for subsequent ones⁵.

On exchange, the cost is built into the rate rather than shown as a separate line. That is normal for this market and it is why comparing headline fees alone tells you very little. The rate you are offered at the moment of exchange is where the margin sits.

Sending money abroad and buying property overseas with FairFX

International transfers through FairFX are aimed at two audiences: people sending money regularly to another country, and people making a single large payment, most often for a property.

For a property purchase abroad, the payment is usually the last step in a long process, and the money has to arrive in the right currency, in the right account, on the right day. The exchange rate is fixed at the point you book the transfer, which is what makes the timing decision the important one rather than the transfer itself. A rate that moves between booking and completion changes what the property costs you in pounds.

For regular transfers, the calculation is simpler: the fee, if any, plus the margin in the rate, multiplied by how often you send. Someone sending a fixed amount every month will feel a rate margin far more than someone making one payment.

There is a limit worth knowing about on the protection side. The reimbursement rules for authorised push payment scams, which apply to transfers sent within the UK, exclude international payments from the claims a firm has to reimburse⁷. So a transfer that leaves the UK is not covered by the same refund rules as a domestic payment, and the caution you exercise before sending is the main protection.

For the wider picture on how transfers work, what they cost and what can go wrong, see sending money in the UK and abroad.

Holding and managing currency in a FairFX account

A FairFX account is not a bank account. It holds currency balances that you can top up, move between currencies and spend from a card.

FairFX says customers can move money between 15 available currencies, ready for another trip, and that up to 15 major currencies can be added while travelling⁵. The card itself holds 20 currencies⁵. A separate FairFX page refers to 21 supported currencies⁴.

The management side is done through the app and online account: checking balances, topping up, moving money between currencies and freezing a card if it goes missing. The linked card product is designed so that one person can hold the balance and issue cards to others, which is how the shared or separate balance choice works in practice⁴.

Because the balances are held as e-money rather than deposits, they do not earn interest and they are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme². What protects them is the safeguarding arrangement described below.

Cashback for FairFX card customers

FairFX's linked cards carry a cashback offer. That is the rate published by the provider for its own product.

Cashback on cards is a common feature and the rates vary widely across the market. The important thing about any cashback offer is the terms attached to it: which retailers count, whether there is a cap, and when the terms took effect. FairFX's own terms show two different effective dates for its cashback terms, 1 November 2025 and 1 September 2025, and the documents do not resolve which applies. Check the current terms on its site before relying on the rate.

FairFX is part of Equals: what that means for customers

FairFX sits inside the Equals group. The FCA register lists FairFX as a current trading name of Equals Money UK Limited, alongside Equals Money, equals and Card One Money¹. The company has been active since it was incorporated on 4 June 2007⁹.

For a customer, the practical consequences are limited. The brand you deal with, the app you use and the card in your wallet stay the same. What changes is the legal entity behind the contract, which is the name that appears on the FCA register and in the terms. If you need to check that a firm is authorised, the register entry is where to look, using the firm reference number 504547¹.

The group also runs a business payments brand, Equals Money, which serves companies rather than consumers. The two share a corporate parent but not a customer base.

One thing worth being clear about: being part of a larger group does not change the protection status of your money. FairFX is still an e-money and payment services firm, not a bank, and the FSCS position is the same as it would be for any firm of that kind².

Spotting fraud and scams on your FairFX account

The single most useful habit with any card account is checking transactions regularly for payments you do not recognise. That is the advice given for card fraud and for digital wallet fraud alike¹⁰.

If something does appear that you did not authorise, report it quickly. Guidance on current accounts is that reporting unrecognised transactions quickly usually results in a refund if it is fraud¹². If fraud has been committed against you, for example if someone has used your identity, there may be a marker placed against your name to protect you, and you will be able to see it on your credit file¹³.

Scams that target card and transfer customers usually start with contact rather than with the account itself. The pattern is a message, call or email that appears to come from the firm or from a legitimate organisation, persuading the customer to move money or hand over details. The definition used in guidance is exactly that: an authorised push payment is where a person is persuaded to transfer money by the scammer pretending to be from their financial institution or a legitimate organisation¹⁴.

To report a scam, contact Report Fraud, which also offers advice on scams and fraud¹⁵. For the wider picture on the different types of fraud and how they work, see scams and fraud.

Getting money back after an authorised push payment scam

Since 7 October 2024, payment firms in the UK have been required to reimburse customers who lose money to authorised push payment scams, in all but exceptional cases¹⁶. FairFX states that it is legally required to implement and comply with these rules from that date, and that only payments made on or after 7 October 2024 are eligible⁷.

The rules set a maximum that the firm has to pay.

On timing, FairFX says it must reimburse an eligible claim within 5 working days of receiving it, subject to the stop the clock provision, and that where that provision is used you will receive a written response by no later than the end of the 35th working day following the report⁷. Independent guidance says the refund should come within five business days of making the claim¹⁷.

The claim deadline is 13 months from the final payment made to a fraudster as part of the same claim⁷. The consumer standard of caution applies: FairFX says it and the regulator expect customers to exercise caution when making push payments, and that a claim may not succeed if they have not⁷.

There is a list of exclusions. FairFX's own guidance excludes payments made before 7 October 2024, claims submitted more than 13 months after the final payment, international payments, card payments, cash scam payments, civil disputes, and payments sent to or received by credit unions, municipal banks and national savings banks⁷.

Complaints and the Financial Ombudsman Service

If something goes wrong, the first step is FairFX's own complaints process. If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of a claim, FairFX says you can use the existing complaint process, which includes escalating it to the Financial Ombudsman Service⁷.

The Financial Ombudsman Service is free to use and covers complaints about banking and payments, including account closures, disputed transactions, IT failures and problems with switching services²¹. It also handles complaints about fraud and scams²². A business has only 15 days to consider complaints about fraud and scams, payment services such as bank transfers or direct debits, and electronic money such as online money transfers, Apple Pay or travel money cards²².

To complain, the ombudsman asks you to fill in its complaint form²². It can be reached on 0800 023 4567 or by email at complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk²⁴. The service is free and easy to use²⁵, and the same number is given in other consumer guidance²⁶.

If your complaint is about a claims management company rather than about FairFX itself, for example about the results of a claim or the fees charged, that goes to the Financial Ombudsman Service as well²⁷.

For the wider picture on how complaints and redress work across financial services, see consumer protection in UK financial services.

Your money is safeguarded, not covered by the FSCS

This is the section that matters most, and it is worth being blunt about it. Money held with FairFX is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

The FSCS states that it cannot protect customers if an e-money firm or payment services firm fails², and repeats the point in its own checking tool: FSCS can't protect e-money or payment services firms³. The scheme only applies to certain types of activity and does not cover payment services²⁸. That is not a criticism of FairFX; it is how the whole e-money sector works, and it applies equally to every prepaid card and transfer firm in the UK.

What applies instead is safeguarding. FairFX says it holds customer funds in specially designated, safeguarded bank accounts, which keep them separate from its other assets⁴. The effect is that if the firm failed, the money in those accounts would be ring-fenced for customers rather than treated as part of the firm's estate. The FSCS may look through a payments firm to compensate customers if the firm's UK safeguarding bank fails, but it does not cover cases where the payments firm itself fails²⁹.

The practical difference between safeguarding and deposit protection is what you have to do if something goes wrong. With a bank covered by the FSCS, compensation is automatic up to the limit³⁰. With a safeguarded e-money balance, you would need to make a claim to the administrator if your provider failed³¹. That is a slower and less certain route.

For comparison, the FSCS does cover deposits with regulated UK banks and building societies, where customers automatically get their money back if the bank goes bust³⁰. It also covers some investments, but not unregulated ones, and most cryptoassets are not protected because they are not regulated³². Credit insurance and marine insurance claims are among the things the scheme does not cover³⁴. Money held in National Savings and Investments products is protected separately, backed by the Treasury³⁰.

If you are weighing up where to keep money you cannot afford to lose, the FSCS has a checking tool that tells you whether a particular product is protected³. For the wider picture on which accounts and products carry what protection, see current accounts and savings.