iFAST Global Bank - anyone with experience of this UK regulated bank?

Minimalist1978

iFAST Global Bank - https://www.ifastgb.com/home

Does anyone with experience of this UK regulated bank? It looks similar to Revolut in terms of the currency and money transfer services offered but, unlike Revolut, it has a full UK banking license and offers several competitive savings accounts in various currencies.

WastedWords

No experience but from quick look at website:
Can't see any conversion rate info. In fact, there is nothing about ability to convert currencies, only hold.
No SEPA transfers.
No debit card.
Limited to 6 currencies.  

PauletteH

No Faster Payments
No DDs
No SOs
No cheques

How would you get your money out of this bank?



Quite steep fees for some services

SparkandShine

I've been using the iFAST Bank account for some time, and it's been pretty useful. It's a UK-regulated bank with FSCS protection, similar to Revolut. What I like about it is that I can handle all major currencies like GBP, USD, EUR etc in one go, and they offer a solid interest rate of 4.25% on GBP and 3.6% on USD with no minimums or maximums for instant access. Before, there was a bit of a hiccup as it didn't support FPS, but that's sorted now with faster payments. I also find their currency exchange handy for swapping between 6 currencies at reasonable rates (better than Wise I tried). The only downside I've noticed is the absence of a debit card option, which I hope they'll introduce soon...

eskbanker

SparkandShine said:

It's a UK-regulated bank with FSCS protection, similar to Revolut.

Not the best comparator, given that Revolut isn't a bank!

flaneurs_lobster

SparkandShine said:

Before, there was a bit of a hiccup as it didn't support FPS, but that's sorted now with faster payments.

The fee schedule that @PauletteH posted above says FP not available so that's out of date? Assume FPs are free?

eskbanker

flaneurs_lobster said:

SparkandShine said:

Before, there was a bit of a hiccup as it didn't support FPS, but that's sorted now with faster payments.

The fee schedule that @PauletteH posted above says FP not available so that's out of date? Assume FPs are free?

Yes, the title of that document (posted last year) is the schedule as at 31 March 2023, the current 2024 one being at:

https://www.ifastgb.com/assets/static-file/feeschedule/Personal Bank Account Fee Information Document Effective From 8 Mar 2024.pdf

flaneurs_lobster

Ah thank you, failed to spot that this was a zombie thread, of course that schedule is out of date.

Ballard

This bank used to be known as BFC bank. Not much to do with this thread really but I had an interview with them about 6 or 7 years ago. The only time that they could conduct the interview was lunchtime and they’re in Canary Wharf, about 20-25 minutes from work so I asked for a long lunch.

i arrived pretty much spot on for the interview only for them to keep me waiting almost half an hour. I was very close to walking out when they called me in. No apology for the delay. I didn’t get the job, fortunately, and got back to the office having to make excuses for a two hour lunch.

As I say, nothing to do with this thread but it bought back a memory that I felt compelled to share. 

HHUK

I see they are now offering a tempting 2% cashback on all debit card purchases, up to a total spend of £2,000 per month for (effectively) the next three months.

But then they say once the debit card is launched they will support Google Pay, which suggests the card has yet to be launched. Not clear to me how they can give cashback on card purchases until that happens.

https://www.ifastgb.com/en/article-details/321762/Earn-2-Cashback-Spend-Smart-Get-Rewarded

https://www.ifastgb.com/assets/static-file/debit-card/debit-card-cash-back/iFAST Multi-Currency Card Cashback Terms & Conditions.pdf

flaneurs_lobster

HHUK said:

But then they say once the debit card is launched they will support Google Pay, which suggests the card has yet to be launched. Not clear to me how they can give cashback on card purchases until that happens.

Bit of digging on their site seems to suggest the debit card is available now

https://www.ifastgb.com/en/service/debit-card

In fact it must be true because there's a picture!

Either that bloke has tiny hands or that card is about A4 sized.

Good promotion if you're spending £2k/mth on cards.