Frequently Asked Questions
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What is a multi-currency account?
Could I not have such an account in a bank?
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- What is a multi-currency account?
- Could I not have such an account in a bank?
- Where is the real advantage in having a multi-currency account over operating a single account with a bank and letting the bank to convert currencies to home currency as required?
- Could I deposit, withdraw and transfer payments like from any normal bank account?
- Is CFS a bank? How safe are my funds?
- What about funds transfer, remittances and payments?
- How do I deposit funds into my CFS account?
- How do I withdraw funds?
- What about Credit/Debit cards for the accounts?
- What about charges and fees?
- How do I convert from one currency to another?
- What if I did not have the adequate balance in any particular currency and I have instructed for a payment or a transfer out in that currency?
- All right, how do I open an account with CFS?
A multi-currency account allows the holder of the account to hold, maintain and transact in a multiple of currencies as required. A CFS multi-currency account allows accounts in over 75 countries and probably the only such account in the world.
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CFS is not aware of any such offering by any institution.
Normally, a single bank account allows you hold balances in the home currency of the country where it is located. If you and the bank are in the UK, then it is normal to open a Sterling Pounds account as most transactions are expected to be made in Sterling Pounds. This is called the home currency account.
If one requires holding balances in other currencies, then for each of the currencies there is a new current account created. Banks do not encourage currency accounts unless compelling reasons are provided for the need for each of the currency accounts required. It is also very expensive to open and maintain currency accounts in banks as monthly charges are generally levied for each of the accounts.
Therefore, to avoid the difficulties and high costs, most people and businesses prefer to have just one account and any receipts and payments in any other currency are automatically converted into the home currency and transacted in the account.
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Essentially you make a huge saving on currency conversion costs. Imagine, you export regularly to Germany and have a mortgage in Spain. Every time you receive Euros into your account from your German customer, the bank converts the Euros into Sterling Pounds and the conversion costs about 2 to 4%. Then when you need to make a payment in Euros for your Spanish mortgage, the bank will convert your Sterling pounds into Euros and you another 2% to 4%.
If you had a CFS multi-currency account you would hold the Euros received as Euros in the multi-currency account and instruct payment out in Euros thus saving on an average 6%. You have been able to do this just by being able to hold the money in Euro which a normal bank account will not allow you to do. Further, you do not have to necessarily pay out only in Euros. You may pay a supplier in USD in which you save one conversion and an average cost of 3%.
Finally, CFS accounts do not cost you regular fees to maintain and transactions costs are much lower than banks.
Yes. CFS is essentially an online service and is available 24/7 and 365 days.
CFS is not a bank. CFS does not handle funds and only provides the platform for transactions. CFS is a licensed member of the Zipp International Payments Network. All client funds are managed by Zipp through its central treasury.
Zipp is authorised and regulated by the FSA (Financial Services authority) of the United Kingdom and is licensed to issue cards and e-money products. Thus, its client fund management is regulated and monitored for liquidity adequacy like any other licensed Financial Institution or bank.
Funds transfer is one of the very important and useful features of the CFS account. Money transfers are instant between CFS account holders or for that matter between any accounts in institutions that are members of the Zipp Network, globally.
Thus, whether you are an individual making a remittance to your friend or relative or a business paying a supplier, the payment is immediate as long as the beneficiary holds a CFS or any account affiliated through membership to Zipp. As it does not cost anything to open a CFS account, it is normal for senders to urge the receiver to open a CFS account if they did not have one already or vice versa. This way both parties are greatly benefitted by the instant transfer as well as low costs.
You could log in to your CFS account and deposit funds using your debit/credit card. You could wire transfer from your bank or simply deposit into the bank account nominated by CFS. This may vary depending on the country you are in. Detailed instructions are available when you log in to your account and choosing the deposit funds link.
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You should make a payment request by logging into your account and giving bank details of where you want the funds transferred to. This could be to anywhere in the world where banking facilities are available. You could also order a banker's cheque.
The system allows you to store your regular payees for future recurring payments.
In case you have a Zipp Card you could have funds transferred to your card account and use the same at participating ATMs or POS machines.
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Zipp Cards are issued by CFS in both physical and virtual forms. Every account by default is a virtual Zipp card and the account number is the long 16 digit Card number. An expiry date and CVV (Security number) is provided to you to enable you to use the virtual card at all merchants who accept Zipp transactions.
The Zipp network is fast growing globally. Please visit www.zippcard.com to know more about Zipp Cards.
CFS also intends to issue cards with other networks like VISA in the near future and work is in progress.
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There is no fee to open an account.
There are fees for transactions. This varies from country to country. Please use the link in the home page to go to the relevant country's site to see the charges applicable.
For UK customers, there is a flat 50p ( British pence) for every transaction.
For deposits made into your account using credit/debit cards, interchange fees are applicable at 3.5% for credit cards and 50 pence for debit cards.
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You can log in to your account and use the friendly conversion feature to convert between currencies you hold or indeed buy any new currencies. The rates offered by CFS are derived form rates provided by Zipp and extremely competitive. Zipp's team of currency dealers continuously scout the world markets for best rates for you.
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The system will process the transfer or payment as long as adequate funds are available on a net basis (net balance of all balances in all currencies) irrespective of balance in that particular currency. The system will hold a negative balance in that currency till midnight that day allowing you an opportunity to do an appropriate conversion to neutralise the negative balance. At midnight, the system will close all negative balances by appropriate conversion from other currency balances held as necessary beginning with the currency that has the largest balance at the prevailing CFS rates.
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Simple, go to Register and fill in the application. A basic account will be opened instantly for limited use. You will need to provide photo ID and proof of address if you are an individual for the full account. We will conduct verifications as necessary and reserve the right to decline applications for new accounts or refuse transactions if we are not fully satisfied with the veracity.
If you are a business, you will need to provide details of the company and information about your business and the kind of transactions that you expect to make.
CFS supports every initiative by Governments to curb money laundering and identity thefts and endeavours to be fully compliant with all regulations on these matters. Therefore CFS requests full cooperation of all new applicants for accounts in providing the required information.
Please read Terms and Conditions for further information.
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