Are my funds secured?
Updated over a week ago

Spendesk SAS is working with several regulated payment services providers (“PSPs”).

  • Spendesk Financial Services SAS (100% subsidiary of Spendesk SAS), a payment institution licensed in France by the ACPR under number 17518,

  • Okali (ex-SFPMEI), an electronic money institution licensed in France by the ACPR under number 17448,

  • TPL”: Transact Payments Limited (for UK customers) and Transact Payments Malta Limited (for EEA customers), electronic money institutions licensed respectively in Gibraltar by the GFSC and in Malta by the MFSA.

1. How are the funds protected in case of insolvency of Spendesk SAS?

Spendesk SAS only provides SaaS technical services and does not hold the clients’ funds. Consequently, a potential insolvency of Spendesk SAS has no impact on the clients’ funds held by the partner PSPs.

2. How are the funds protected in case of insolvency of the partner PSPs?

⚠️ The various “Deposit Guarantee Schemes” as defined in Directive 2012/49/EU apply only in case of bank insolvency (i.e., a “credit institution”).

Spendesk partner PSPs are not credit institutions (but they are licensed “payment institutions” / “e-money institutions”). Hence, these compensation schemes (FGDR in France, GDGS in Gibraltar, DCS in Malta) will not cover the clients funds up to 100k€ in case of insolvency from a partner PSP. In this scenario, the funds are covered as described in this section.

In accordance with (i) art. 10 of PSD2 Directive or (ii) section 21 of the UK EMRs, PSPs need to implement measures to protect their clients funds, which consist in the deposit of the client’s funds into a dedicated bank account opened in the books of a credit institution (called “segregation account”).

These segregation accounts are:

  • separated at any time from the PSP’s own funds,

  • highly and frequently monitored by the PSP’s regulator and

  • protected against any claim or actions from the PSP creditors (including in case of bankruptcy of the PSP).

Applicable law and regulations

🇪🇺 EU law:

🇫🇷 FR law (implementation of EU law)- French Code monétaire et financier:

🇬🇧 UK law:

References in contractual documents

The protection of the clients funds is mentioned in the PSPs terms and conditions (”T&Cs”):

  • SFS SAS T&Cs (art. 5.2): “The funds corresponding to the credit balance of a Payment Account are protected by SFS SAS in accordance with applicable regulations, in a specific account opened by SFS SAS in the books of a credit institution. The Customer's funds are separated from SFS SAS’s and Spendesk's own assets. Thus, in the event that SFS SAS becomes insolvent, the Customer's funds would be separated from the assets that SFS SAS's creditors could recover.

  • Okali T&Cs (art. 21): “At the end of every Business Day, the Client’s funds shall be placed in an isolation account opened at a French credit institution and isolated according to article L. 522-17 I. of the French Monetary and Financial Code. The Client’s funds shall be protected against any action from other creditors of the Institution, even in the event of any insolvency or enforcement proceedings against the latter.

  • TPL T&Cs (art. 19): “The Services are not governed by the Deposit Security Scheme of Gibraltar. However, we will safeguard your funds so that they are protected in accordance with applicable law if we become insolvent”.

Supporting banks where the clients’ funds are segregated

Spendesk clients' funds are protected via segregation accounts opened in the books of the following banks:

  • For Spendesk Financial Services SAS [EUR accounts for EEA customers]: Natixis 🇫🇷

  • For Okali [EUR accounts for EEA customers]: Crédit Mutuel Arkea 🇫🇷

  • For TPL:

    • Starling bank 🇬🇧 [GBP accounts for UK customers]

    • Natwest 🇬🇧 [USD, DKK, NOK and SEK accounts for EEA and UK customers + EUR accounts for UK customers + GBP accounts for EEA customers]

3. Are the funds protected by the deposit protection scheme in case of insolvency of the supporting bank (where the funds are segregated)?

Funds segregated via banks located in France: Directive 2012/49/EU has been implemented extensively in France:

  • article L. 312-4-1 of the French Monetary and Financial Code: the deposits made by payment institutions and e-money institutions are excluded from the French FGDR protection scheme only to the extent they are made “on their own behalf” (”dépôts qu'ils ont effectués en leur nom et pour leur compte propre”)

  • Preliminary works of the French Parliament (amendment of the French Senate)

  • Official information website of the Banque de France / ACPR / AMF:

    Les comptes de cantonnement utilisés par les EP/EME pour protéger les fonds de leurs clients sont des comptes de dépôts qui bénéficient de la garantie du Fonds de garantie des dépôts et de résolution (FGDR).

    Cette garantie joue pour chaque client dont les fonds sont déposés sur le compte de cantonnement. Ainsi, chaque client de l'EP/EME concerné peut bénéficier d’une indemnisation individuelle d’un montant maximum de 100 000 euros par le FGDR.

    En pratique, dans l'hypothèse où la banque qui tient le compte de cantonnement de l'EP/EME venait à faire faillite, c'est l'EP/EME qui recevrait directement l'indemnisation due pour chacun de ses clients, à charge pour lui de continuer à les protéger selon l'une des méthodes prévues par la loi.”

👉 In case of bankruptcy from a French bank holding the clients’ segregated funds, the French deposit protection mechanism (FGDR) would protect the funds of each Spendesk clients separately up to €100k (Spendesk would be indemnified for the whole and able to refund the clients).

Funds segregated via banks located in the UK: The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) published a policy statement (PS2/23) on 31st March 2023 containing final rules amending the depositor protection (DP) part of the PRA Rulebook that will impact in particular electronic money institutions and authorised payment institution.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) depositor protection regime will now cover FSCS‑eligible customers of e-money institutions and payment institutions should the bank holding those firms’ safeguarded funds fail.

(Osborne - Clarke article: UK's PRA extends deposit protection to e-money and authorised payment institutions-safeguarded funds - 25 April 2023)

Funds segregated via banks located out of France and the UK (other EU banks): no protection via the national deposit guarantee scheme (DGS) as deposits from payment services providers are excluded under art. 5.1(d) of Directive 2012/49/EU (implemented by reference in the UK via the Deposit Guarantee Scheme Regulations 2015).

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