IFX

IFX Overview

IFX, which trades as IFX Payments, is a United Kingdom payments and foreign exchange provider rather than a retail trading broker. The operating company is IFX (UK) Ltd, registered in England and Wales under company number 05422718, with its registered office at The Carter, 11 Pilgrim Street, London EC4V 6RN and further offices in Amersham, Dubai and Warsaw. What it publishes is cross-border payments, multi-currency business accounts and currency exchange for corporates, fintechs and institutional clients. It states that it is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as an electronic money institution, it offers no trading terminal, and it publishes no leverage, spread or commission anywhere on its site.

IFX Regulation and License

IFX (UK) Ltd states on its own website that it is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011, firm reference number 900517, for the issuing of electronic money. The same company states that it is authorised and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority under reference F001814 to operate as a representative office marketing its services in the Dubai International Financial Centre. Its Dubai company, IFX Payments (DIFC) Limited, states a separate Dubai Financial Services Authority reference, F009827, with permission to provide and operate a payment account and to issue payment instruments. These are payments and electronic money permissions. None of them is a retail trading, forex or derivatives licence, and the company does not present them as one. The wording above is published in the small print of the company's own website.

Is IFX Regulated?

Yes for payments and electronic money, and not for trading. IFX (UK) Ltd publishes a Financial Conduct Authority firm reference number for issuing electronic money and a Dubai Financial Services Authority reference for a representative office in the DIFC, and its Dubai company publishes its own permission to operate payment accounts. Nothing the company publishes claims permission to offer leveraged forex, contracts for difference or any other retail trading product, so a reader who arrived here looking for a regulated CFD broker has not found one.

IFX (UK) Ltd

IFX (UK) Ltd is the legal company behind the IFX Payments brand, and the site uses the two names interchangeably. Its Dubai business is carried on by a separate company, IFX Payments (DIFC) Limited, registered in the Dubai International Financial Centre under company number CL8834 with offices at Unit 31-45, Level 31, Central Park Offices, DIFC. The IFX name is also used by other financial firms that have nothing to do with this company, so the company number and the firm reference numbers above, not the brand, are what identify the business a client is dealing with.

Is IFX Safe?

The company is specific about what protection exists and what does not, which is the most useful thing a prospective client can read. IFX states that it is an electronic money institution and not a bank, that it cannot pay interest on funds it holds, and that client money is safeguarded by segregation in accounts at authorised credit institutions or in secure liquid assets approved by the Financial Conduct Authority, with an insurance method used for certain funds. Safeguarding of that kind is not bank deposit protection, and the company claims no deposit guarantee scheme. Its complaints procedure targets a final response within 15 business days, extended to 35 in exceptional cases, with referral to the Financial Ombudsman Service or Kifid where the answer does not satisfy the client. Against that, the complete absence of published pricing is a real limitation: a client cannot establish the cost of the service before entering a conversation. Being regulated as a payments business is not in itself evidence that any particular service will suit a client.

IFX Account Types

One account product is published, the multi-currency business account. It holds more than 40 currencies in one account with a real-time view of each, provides dedicated IBANs in the business name, and supports sub-accounts that separate funds by client or entity, each with its own IBAN. Payments run over SWIFT, SEPA and Faster Payments from the same platform, with user permission controls, specialist onboarding and a relationship manager from the start. The client contracts call the same product an e-money account or a wallet. No minimum opening balance or minimum deposit is published for it. Separate client terms exist for private clients as well as corporate clients, and the currency exchange service covers personal transfers such as buying a property abroad, so the published business account is not the limit of what the company will consider.

IFX Spreads, Commissions and Fees

IFX publishes no prices at all. There is no fee page, the pricing item in its navigation leads nowhere, and the client contracts place every charge in a pricing schedule that the site does not publish or state that charges will be agreed between the client and IFX. The product pages describe competitive currency costs and pricing tailored to payment volumes without putting a figure on either. Two charging terms are published: IFX may revise its charges on email notice, with 10 business days in which the client may terminate, and late payment carries interest at 4 per cent a year above the Bank of England base rate. The site publishes no prices, so anyone comparing providers has to ask for a quote.

IFX Trading Platforms

IFX supplies no trading platform. Client access is through ibanq, its own web platform, and through a cross-border payments API with published developer documentation for businesses that prefer to connect their own systems. Asked about platform integration, the company describes integrating into the client's platform rather than providing one. MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader appear nowhere on its site.

IFX Deposits and Withdrawals

Money moves over three rails: SWIFT for international transfers, SEPA for euro payments across the EU and EEA, and Faster Payments for sterling in the United Kingdom. The company publishes a currency coverage table giving a United Kingdom cut-off time and a value date for every currency it supports, running from same day to three business days. Sterling settles same day with a 16:30 cut-off, euro same day or next day at 15:00 and United States dollars same day at 16:30, with a 16:00 cut-off on Fridays and a request to submit instructions 30 minutes before cut-off. Transfers between two IFX wallets are described as attracting lower fees than other transfer types. No deposit or withdrawal fee, minimum or maximum is published. Cards and bank transfers sit outside this list on purpose: the corporate trading terms state that any card or bank transfer method offered for moving settlement funds is provided by third parties, is not part of the IFX service, and may change or be withdrawn at any time.

IFX Support

Contact is by the enquiry form on the company's contact page, which routes existing client support and complaints as separate enquiry types, and by telephone on +44 (0)20 7495 8888 for London and Amersham or +971 (0)4 495 8900 for Dubai. Complaints are handled at complaints@ifxpayments.com. No general email address appears on the contact page and no support hours are published. The site lists four offices, in London, Amersham, Dubai and Warsaw, and is published in English.

IFX Pros and Cons

• Specific legal and regulatory disclosure: the operating company, its number, its registered office and its firm reference numbers are all on the site.
• One multi-currency account covering more than 40 currencies, with dedicated IBANs and sub-accounts for separating client or entity funds.
• Currency by currency cut-off times and value dates, which is more operational detail than most providers publish.
• No published pricing of any kind, so costs can only be established by asking.
• Safeguarding rather than deposit protection, and no interest on balances.
• Nothing for a trader: no trading platform, no leverage, no market spreads.

IFX Review and Assessment

IFX is a business payments and currency exchange provider operating as IFX (UK) Ltd under a United Kingdom electronic money authorisation, with a separately regulated Dubai company. It suits a business with cross-border payment needs, multiple currencies or a structure that mainstream providers find hard to onboard, and it suits nobody looking for a trading account. Two things are worth settling before signing: the price, because none of it is published, and the identity of the contracting entity, since the firm reference number and company number should match the ones named above.