Frequently Asked Questions
Registration
Once we have received your completed registration form our back office team will make every effort to ensure your account is approved within 24 hours.
Click here to choose your account and begin your registration now.
Don’t worry, there’s always someone to speak to if you have any questions. Give us a call on 0203 918 5405.
Alternatively, you can send us a message with your thoughts using the blue speech bubble at the bottom right hand corner of your device.
Before we can convert any currency and send funds overseas we are required under The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and subsequent Anti-Money Laundering Regulations to identify the sender of funds.
Don’t worry though as it’s free to register with us and there is no obligation to use us for any of your trading activity if you decide not to. By registering with us, you will not only access our award winning online platform to handle all currency payments but will also reap the benefit of gaining expert guidance on the currency markets from your personal traders. They will give you live market quotes and assist you in all aspects of your account activity. Click here to register
We always maintain the highest standards in safety and quality and therefore at all times must ensure compliance with UK law and FCA and HMRC guidelines. We are required by law to identify clients who trade with our services e.g. who you are, where you live, etc.
All customer information is securely protected with us and will never be shared with anyone else. Although supporting documents are not always required, they may be needed for us to speed up the process of completing your application if you fall into any of the following categories:
UK Company with Non-UK Shareholders or Directors
1) Copies of government issued photo ID (e.g. passports, driving license)
2) Proof of address (utility bill, driving license or bank statement) no older than three months.
Non-UK Registered Business
1) Copies of government issued photo ID (e.g. passports, driving license) for directors or shareholders.
2) Proof of address (utility bill, driving license or bank statement) no older than three months for directors or shareholders.
3) Copy of the annual tax return or invoice (which confirms the names of the individual shareholders/owners of the business)
4) Copy of the certificate of incorporation or business bank statement
Applicants may also be asked to provide us with verification of their seller profiles and sales history, a member of our team will explain the requirement, this will usually take the form of a seller profile screenshot.
Proving Your Residential Address
Upload (via phone or PC) a single copy of either a bank/building society statement, a utility bill (gas, electric, landline phone, water, satellite/cable TV, or broadband), a residence permit, a driving license, a current building/contents insurance certificate, or a recent tax bill.
Please ensure the document is dated within the last 3 months, contains your initial and last name, and matches your address. Unfortunately, we can’t accept mobile phone bills, or TV licences.
Proving your identity
The easiest way to prove this is by uploading a copy of your passport, government-issued identity card, or photocard driver licence. Please ensure that this is valid and in date.
Important for all documents
When uploading any document, please remember:
1) The details on the document you upload must match the name and address you applied with.
2) Your file/s must be less than 5MB each, and must be clear enough to be read by someone else.
3) You can upload .jpg, .jpeg, .pdf, .png, .tif, and .tiff files.
Security
Imperial Currencies strictly adheres to all FCA regulations and CASS on handling client money, in which all customer funds are segregated and customer data is protected
Your client ID is your unique username set and allocated to you by Imperial Currencies.
This ID is used for accessing the online platform and for confirming trades over the phone.
It is dispatched to you on request along with a link to enable you to set your security password and secret answers.
The security of our customers’ money is paramount to us and always our principal concern.
When funds are posted to your account, e-money is issued in exchange for these funds, by an Electronic Money Institution who we work with, called Currecycloud. In line with regulatory requirements, Currenycloud safeguard your funds. This means that the money behidn the balance you see in your account is held at a reputable bank, and most importantly, is protected for your in the event of Currencyloud’s, or our, insolvency. Currencycloud stops safeguarding out funds when the money has been paid out of your account to your beneficiary’s account.
We always ensure customers payments are handled in line with UK law and FCA rules on client money and payments. Payment services for Imperial Currencies are provided by The Currency Cloud Limited. Registered in England No. 06323311.
The Currency Cloud Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 for the issuing of electronic money (FRN: 900199)
Please read our privacy policy for further information about how your data is protected.
Payments
With same day delivery on over 150+ currencies across 212 countries we’re here to help your business run as smoothly as possible. No trade is too large, contact your personal trader for further details.
The amount you can transfer is unlimited.
You can transfer any amount of currency you require online.
However, we recommend that larger transfers are made via your personal trader.
A list of all the relevant information can be found on our currencies page
How to trade
1) Simply log in to your account to make a transfer or get a quote from your personal trader.
2) Confirm the currencies you would like to exchange.
3) Enter the amount you want to convert.
4) Agree the exchange rate and total cost.
5) Add the payee details online and enter the amount you wish to send or let your personal trader know where you need to send funds to and they will manage this for you. Remember, you can split trader to send payments to multiple payees.
What happens next?
You’ll be kept up to date at every step, whether that’s online or via your personal trader. You will receive an automated email when your trade is booked, confirming all the relevant details and a further automated email when your payment is received by us. If you are trading online the payment status and trade settlement status is updated in real-time.
Funds to Europe and US are usually received by the payee on the same day, but please allow 1-3 working days for the payee bank to credit the money to their account.
Yes, we will send you an automated confirmation email as soon as we have sent the currency to the beneficiaries account.
Settlements
All transactions are paid by card and facilitated via safe and secure bank wire transfers.
The safeguarding accounts are held with Barclays Bank PLC. Barclays does not monitor the funds that are placed on the safeguarding accounts, or how you operate these accounts.
Cleared funds must be received and reconciled prior to the payment cut-off on settlement date to enable completion of payments on time.
Deliveries
Your personal trader is here to manage your instructions about who, where and when to send your payments to. At every step along the payment pipeline you will receive regular email confirmations.
For all major currencies, providing funds are received on time and prior to cut-off, payments are made on the same day.
We will confirm a payment date to you prior to you completing your transaction and this will be the earliest date we can make your payment providing we have received your funds.
We will automatically notify you via email.
You should always allow 1 -3 working days for the payment to arrive with the recipient.
You provide us with the recipient name, address, bank account number/IBAN and sort/BIC or SWIFT code. This can be entered online or provided to your personal trader either before or during your transfer
It will depend on where you are sending the funds and how long it takes you to settle with us.
We can send money to Europe, USA, UK and Canada on the day you book a trade, but it usually takes between 1-3 hours in most other geographical regions.
Click here to find out more about how long payments take to arrive.
If the payment has not arrived with the recipient after 4 working days of you receiving the payment confirmation, please contact us on 0203 918 5405 and we will investigate.
Bank Details
Unlike most banks we won’t charge you additional transfer costs, fees or commissions. Your personal trader is here to support you issue payments along every step of the process.
The account number is a reference to the bank of the person or company you are paying. It can be found on any invoices or recipient bank statements.
Always ensure that you enter the number without spaces or dashes on your account.
It’s essential that you provide us with the correct IBAN (International Bank Account Number), as it will ensure that the money you’re sending reaches the correct bank account overseas. All payments within the EU need to include the beneficiary IBAN and SWIFT/BIC Code.
Usually if you’re settling an invoice it will be documented on the invoice itself. In any other case, the best way to obtain the IBAN is to simply ask the person or company you are paying. This information can be found on bank statements, invoices and documents showing bank details of who you are paying.
The format of any IBAN that you enter is automatically checked when you enter it using an in-built IBAN checker. If any of the details are incorrect, please check the details either with the recipient to whom you are sending funds to or with the recipient bank. We will not be able to provide you with this information.
The BIC/SWIFT Code is the unique identification code of a particular Bank. It consists of 8 or 11 characters and can be found on account statements, invoices and documents showing bank account details.
If you encounter difficulties, please check the details either with the recipient to whom you are sending the funds or with the recipient bank. We will not be able to provide you with this information.
You can also check the validity of a BIC/SWIFT code on the following website: http://www.swift.com/bsl
Sometimes, your recipient will provide you with a specific set of intermediary bank details that will help us route the payment across the globe.
However, this is rare. If you aren’t aware of any intermediary details then please don’t complete them, or worry.
Whilst we do not charge for receiving funds your bank may add charges for sending payments. If you are being charged by your bank, it may be due to the method by which they are sending your funds or a tariff they have applied to your account so you should contact them to see if they can resolve this.
Whilst we always send the exact amount of money you specify in the transaction, the bank receiving your funds, or an intermediary bank, may deduct fees when crediting the payment to your recipient.
Amendments
Your personal trader is here to help. Please contact them immediately for assistance.
If you need to change your recipient details after you have assigned them to your payment, please contact us immediately on 0203 918 5405.
Our contracts are legally binding, therefore, once you have confirmed your transfer, whether it is by phone or via our platform, you cannot make cancellations.
Please contact us immediately on 0203 918 5405 should you need to cancel your transaction. This will result in us entering into a reversal transaction which may incur a close out cost to you.
International Domiciles
Welcoming you with open arms. We won’t turn you away.
Absolutely, we continue to service customers all over the world.
At Imperial Currencies, we offer fee-free transfers on 1+0 currencies to 212 countries.
To find out if we can work with your currency pairing click here, or if you would like more information do not hesitate to contact us here.
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Rates
No hidden fees or hidden costs. Just competitive exchange rates with a personal touch.
The exchange rate that you see on the news or online is called the ‘interbank rate’ – it’s the wholesale rate at which banks (and only banks) buy and sell currency between each other. This rate is not available to companies or individuals.
At Imperial Currencies, we are able to buy currency and we pass the savings we receive from buying in bulk to our customers. We earn our money by taking a smaller margin than that which you would receive from your bank. You will always get quoted a price for the currency you want to buy or sell whether you trade online or over the phone.
The exchange rate changes every few seconds but once we agree a rate with you – that’s the rate you’ll get.
The exchange rate of your transfer is the rate you’ll agree with your currency expert over the phone or online when you book your trade.
Once the trade has been confirmed, your rate will be remain the same, independently of what is happening on the markets.
Our team of dedicated expert traders are always on hand to help provide you accurate information about the currency market to help you decide the best moment to make a trade.
None. There are no additional charges for our transactions. That means no hidden fees or commissions.
Imperial Currencies operate through The Currency Cloud, who buy currencies for us at wholesale rates, which we sell on to our clients at retail rates.
Multi-Currency Accounts: Online Sellers
Get paid like a local with instantly approved multi-currency accounts. Take advantage of faster cross-border payments and lower conversion costs across most major online marketplaces for merchants and sellers. Contact your personal trader today to discuss further.
You can currently open accounts to collect sales in over 150+ currencies all over the world.
There’s no receiving fee applied to any and all funds collected in your multi-currency accounts.
Local currency transfers are also available at a competitive rate. Please contact us here for more details.
Amazon, Allegro, Bol, Cdiscount, eBay, Darty, Depop, Fnac, Frugo, Game, Groupon, Jet, Lazada, Newegg, Overstock, Paypal, Pixmania, Play, Priceminister, Rakuten, Shopify, Spartoo, Target, ToysRUs, Trademe, Walmart, Wayfair, Wish.
The number of compatible marketplaces is growing all the time. If you are using another marketplace that you’d like to collect currency from, or if you’d like more help setting up payments from any of the sources mentioned above contact us here for more information.
It takes the same amount of time for Amazon to send funds to your multi-currency account as it would normally take to arrive in your own bank account. In the case of Amazon sellers, funds take 4-6 days to appear in your account, other marketplace payment timescales differ.
You will receive a balance notification in the morning when funds are available to withdraw. As soon as you receive notification, you can instruct us to transfer funds either by phone or by logging into your online account.
Once you have confirmed a transaction we will send the funds to your bank account. The funds will normally be available in your own bank account within 24 hours; this is subject to the business opening hours of your bank.
Yes you can. We are able to provide certificates to verify access to banking facilities.
Certification is sometimes required by marketplaces for this purpose.
There is no minimum period that you can hold an account for, and you are not charged for not using the account.
You can send money to recipient’s accounts in over 212 countries.
Balances within your collection accounts can be transferred across to top-up either account or used to make payments to your own or third party bank accounts.
Multi-Currency Accounts: Services
Send and receive instant balance transfers to, from and between your collection accounts. With instant updates, never lose track of your payments again. Contact your personal trader today to discuss further.
Our exchange services allows you to achieve great exchange rates on outward payments to suppliers in foreign currency.
It is possible to make supplier payments from your multi-currency account balance.
Please contact your personal trader if you’d like to discuss this process.
We will inform you by email when funds are received into your account.
The notification will include the details of the payment received and a real-time total balance of the account.
Automated withdrawals is a free service that enables you to set up rules that will automatically transfer balances from your collection account to a specified bank account.
You have the option to automatically transfer funds, every time they arrive in your account, or once your account balance reaches a desired level.
You can check your account balance at any time by logging in to your online accounts or using the online sellers app from the ‘View statements’ tab.
From there you can also see a record of your transactions and download a copy of your statements.
You can also contact your personal trader for this information.
Our rate alert service allows you to set a target exchange rate that you would like to achieve for your currency conversions.
Once your desired rate has been reached we will send you an email alert.
To set up a new alert or modify an existing rate alert log in to our online service and go to the ‘rate alert’ tab.
Referrals
We are always on hand to help you become a referral partner with us. So whether its family, a friend or a business drop us a quick call on 0203 918 5405 to discuss further.
Most certainly! We offer flexible terms for partners and favourable rewards for one-off referrals. Please contact us on 0203 918 5405 so that we can set you up to enable you to earn from your introductions.
Simply give us a call on 0203 918 5405 to discuss further.
Absolutely, there is no limit to the number of referrals you can make.
The more business you refer to us, the more you will earn in return.
We send statements to our partners of all trades and total commission earned during the month and release payment within 20 days after the month in which they placed their trade or within 10 days of your receipt of the commission statement.
Complaints
We take all complaints seriously.
Keeping our customers happy is important to us. If you have a problem we’ll do everything we can to put matters right as quickly as possible through our official complaints procedure.
We are your first port of call for any queries, concerns or complaints. We will handle these complaints in line with our complaints process. To start your complaint please raise it in the first instance to [email protected] or to your relevant Imperial Currencies Relationship Manager. A more detailed summary of the complaints process is outlined here
We work with Currencycloud, who ultimately provides you with regulated payments and e-money services.
Currencycloud has certain obligations as a regulated financial services institution, including around complaints. We keep them informed of the
complaints we receive from you regarding the regulated payments and e-money services they ultimately provide to you. They oversee how we
handle complaints to ensure we do this to the standard required under the regulations. However, if for any reason your complaint regarding
your payments and e-money services has not been acknowledged or dealt with by us, or if you have concerns about the way it has been handled,
Currencycloud’s complaints information can be found here
Click here to contact us to raise a complaint.