Help Centre

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs

This article answers Crezco's most frequently asked questions about account setup, payments, integrations, fees, and security, providing quick solutions to common issues.

Safeguarded customer funds: Customer funds are fully protected and held in safeguarded accounts by The Currency Cloud Limited (Currencycloud). Currencycloud is authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) under the Regulations for the issuing of electronic money and the provision of payment services with Firm Reference Number 900199.
How funds are safeguarded: Currencycloud separates customer funds from their company funds, and places them in safeguarding accounts held with reputable UK and EU Banks. If Currencycloud was to become insolvent, the funds held in the safeguarding accounts would form an asset pool from which claims of the e-money holders (i.e. Crezco) would be paid above those of other creditors.
Regulatory compliance: Currency Cloud Limited (FRN: 900199) is regulated by the FCA in the UK as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI). This means that Currencycloud safeguards your funds in accordance with FCA regulations, and is prohibited from lending customer funds.

For UK bulk payments processed through a transit account:

Safeguarded customer funds: Customer funds are fully protected and held in safeguarded accounts by ClearBank Limited. ClearBank is authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) under the Regulations for the issuing of electronic money and the provision of payment services with Firm Reference Number 754568.
How funds are safeguarded: ClearBank separates customer funds from their company funds, and places them in safeguarding accounts. If ClearBank was to become insolvent, the funds held in the safeguarding accounts would form an asset pool from which claims of the e-money holders (i.e. Crezco) would be paid above those of other creditors.
Regulatory compliance: ClearBank Limited (FRN: 754568) is regulated by the FCA in the UK as an Electronic Money Institution (EMI). This means that ClearBank safeguards your funds in accordance with FCA regulations, and is prohibited from lending customer funds.

Crezco is dedicated to upholding the highest security and compliance standards to protect customer funds. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to us.

For more information please refer to our Terms and Conditions.

What is APP Fraud?

If you have been the victim of APP fraud, you may be eligible for reimbursement of the funds that have been taken. However, it’s important to be aware that conditions apply, and not all lost funds will be eligible for reimbursement. This only applies to payments made on or after the 7th October 2024.

So what is APP Fraud -

APP fraud is when someone is tricked into sending a bank payment to a criminal. The victim authorises the payment to the criminal’s account which is under the victim’s control.The regulations aim to protect victims of this specific type of fraud and explain how they can make a claim from their bank or payment service provider to recover any funds taken through APP fraud. However, you should still always take care when you authorise a payment. Reimbursement is not guaranteed in all cases and there are specific requirements and exemptions that will apply.

Common ways this type of fraud is executed include:

1. Purchase scams

The scammer acts as a fake seller and advertises things that don’t exist – they may even use fake photos or reviews to make them appear genuine. Once you’ve paid, you never receive your item.

2. Impersonation scams

The scammer impersonates a legitimate organisation, such as HMRC, your bank, or even Crezco, and uses their false identity to pressure you into sending them money.

For example, the scammer may say they’re calling from Crezco, and you need to move money to another account to keep it safe. In reality, the other, ‘safe account’ is the scammer’s account, and you’re sending your money to them.

Protecting Yourself:

To protect yourself against APP fraud, make sure you always follow these steps recommended by Take Five to Stop Fraud:

Stop and think before parting with your money or personal information. It could keep you safe
Ask yourself, could it be fake? It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests. Criminals will try to rush you or make you panic
Do your research and be suspicious of any “too good to be true” offers or prices
Remember, Crezco or any other trusted organisation will never ask you to transfer money to a safe account

What Crezco payments does the regulation cover:

It is important to understand that not all payments you make through Crezco are covered:

The regulation does not cover payments where the end beneficiary is not in the UK
Where you are making a payment via Crezco, where the end beneficiary is in the UK, and the payment is passing through a transit account with us; please contact us as soon as possible if you think you have been the victim of a scam. You can do so by emailing us on help@crezco.com

If you are making an account-to-account domestic payment via open banking and have been the victim of a scam please contact your bank immediately

You are eligible if: You are a sole trader or your company is a micro-enterprise or charity: This means your annual turnover does not exceed €2 million in total or your annual balance sheet does not exceed €2 million in total. In addition, you employ less than 10 people. For charities, your annual income should be less than £1 million per year
Your claim is being submitted within 13 months of the fraudulent payment being sent
It was a Faster Payment or CHAPS within the UK, with reimbursement up to the value of £85,000
Malicious payee: You have been manipulated into believing you are purchasing products, but in reality, these products either do not exist or are never delivered to you
Malicious redirection: You have been made to believe that you are interacting with Crezco but a fraudster is actually manipulating you to transfer funds from your account to theirs

How to claim:

If you are eligible based on the above criteria and you think you might have been manipulated to send money to a fraudster, please contact Crezco on help@crezco.com as soon as possible.Once you have reported a fraudulent payment to Crezco we will:

Contact the receiving bank and try to return the funds.
Review the payment and let you know if you’re eligible for reimbursement.
We may ask you to provide additional documents and Crezco may report an incident of fraud to the Police, such as a police report. If you are not willing to cooperate, your case may not be eligible.

Next Steps:

Unless we ‘stop the clock’, your claim will be assessed and reimbursed within five days if you qualify.Crezco can ‘stop the clock' in order to verify that you have the authorisation to submit the claim, and gather additional information to assess the claim. When we 'stop the clock' it pauses the countdown on the 5-day limit, and allows further information to be gathered, for up to 35 days. Crezco can apply an excess of £100.If you’re only eligible for some of your money to be reimbursed, or none at all, we will give you the reasons for this. If you disagree with the outcome, you can always appeal the decision or you can raise a complaint to Crezco. If you are still unhappy, you have the option to escalate your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

Exclusions:

You will not receive reimbursement if your claim meets any of the criteria below:

Civil Dispute: You have paid legitimate supplier(s) for goods or services and have not received them or they are defective in some way. There is no indication of the supplier having an intent of fraud.
First party fraud: You were a willing and knowing party in the scam.
Dates: The claim is submitted more than 13 months after the fraudulent payment has been sent, or for a payment made before 7th October 2024
Destination: Payment is outside of the UK.
Payee: The payment is made to an account you control.
Authorisation: You as the account holder did not authorise the payment. For example, if your account had been taken over by a fraudster, and they sent payments from within your account.
Payment reason: The payment was made for unlawful purposes.

As well as the above criteria, you need to show you’ve taken certain steps during the payment process in order to have a valid claim.This forms part of the Consumer Standard of Caution, which explains the reasonable duty of care you need to show towards yourself and your money. The conditions are:

You need to have followed any warnings from your bank and Crezco, such as an alert that the payment you are making is fraud or could be fraud. You also need to have followed any instructions from the police or the National Crime Agency
You need to file an action fraud report with the police & share this report with Crezco
We may ask you for additional information about your claim, so you need to make sure you respond to those requests
Once you’ve made a claim, we might ask you to report the details of the fraud to the police, or we may offer to do this for you. You should consent to these steps being taken

We’ll review your claim in line with the steps above to determine whether it’s valid – and whether you’re eligible for reimbursement. Remember, a claim isn’t guaranteed to be successful in all cases.

What is a transit account?

Transit accounts enable specific types of payments (such as international payments or bulk payments) to be processed efficiently and securely. Funds will be sent first to a unique transit account in your organisation's name, and then automatically sent out to your intended recipients.

Why is a Transit Account Used?

Lower Fees: Avoid unnecessary banking charges by routing payments through a dedicated account.
Secure & Compliant: All transactions are processed in line with strict financial regulations to protect your funds.
Fast & Reliable: Payments are processed smoothly and efficiently, helping you avoid banking delays.
Clear Reconciliation: The transit account details will appear on your bank statement, ensuring easier reconciliation and cleaner records.
Trusted Process: Seeing transit account details during the payment authorisation stage is expected and part of our secure process.

Your money is always handled through trusted, regulated systems. For more on how Crezco safeguards your payments, please see our help centre article.

Does Crezco support credit or debit cards?

At Crezco, we utilise a payment system known as open banking, which enables payments to be processed directly from one bank account to another. This system is designed for account-to-account (A2A) transactions, meaning payments move seamlessly and instantly from the payer's bank account to the merchant's bank account without the need for intermediaries like card networks.

Since Crezco is built on these open banking payment rails, we only support bank transfer payments. Unfortunately, this means we do not accept credit or debit card payments. Our system bypasses traditional card networks, providing a faster, more secure, and cost-effective alternative to card payments.

Here’s a quick overview of why we don't accept credit or debit cards:

Direct bank transfers: Payments through Crezco are processed instantly between bank accounts, avoiding delays and fees associated with card networks.
Security: Open banking ensures a high level of security since transactions are authorised directly by the payer through their bank, eliminating the risks of card fraud.
Cost-effectiveness: By using open banking, we avoid card processing fees, which can be costly for merchants.

If you have any questions about our payment system or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team. We're here to help!

Does Crezco support Direct Debit payments?

This feature will be sunsetting on the 7th of March, 2025. After the 7th of March, you will no longer be able to create standing order payment links through Crezco. All standing orders that have been set up before March 7th, will be unaffected.

You are able to collect repeat payments with Crezco - whether that's weekly, monthly, or at a less frequent interval.

The method we use to set these up is via Standing Order, rather than Direct Debit.

Once the standing order is set up, it can only be amended or cancelled by the payer. If you need to amend the amount, you can send them a new payment link for a new Standing Order, and ask them to delete the old one.

Please note that standing orders can only be set up for those based in the UK.

Why is the Crezco payment link/ QR code not working?

What if your bank is not listed in the drop down?

If you are unable to find your bank listed when attempting to connect it to Crezco, this indicates that we are currently unable to support your bank. Crezco can only connect with banks that have integrated open banking into their infrastructure. We recommend reaching out to your bank directly to express interest in this feature.

Making an Invoice Payment via Crezco

If you encounter difficulties finding your bank while trying to make an invoice payment using a Crezco payment link, please contact the company that issued the invoice for further assistance. They will provide you with the best next steps.

If your payment link has expired, please go to the following help centre article.

The QR code is not working

If you are the payer:

If you clicked on a pay now button or a Crezco link and unfortunately that link is not working, please try the following steps:

Refresh your page
Clear your cache and cookies on your web browser, or try opening the link in an incognito browser window.
Please reach out to the company that sent you the payment link - they may need to reconfigure their integrated software.

If you are the payee:

If a customer reaches out and notifies you that the Crezco payment link that you sent through Xero/QuickBooks/Quickfile is not working, it could be due to integration being disconnected.

When companies like Xero/QuickBooks/Quickfile do mass system updates, it can cause some of the integrated apps to be disconnected, and need to be reconfigured.

To reconfigure the integration please find the steps listed in your account software's help centre article - Click here

How much could I save using Crezco?

Are there any industries Crezco doesn't work with?

As Crezco is FCA regulated, there are some restrictions on the type of industries we support.

Non-permitted industries – global

Weapons / military-grade security
Multi-level marketing
Pawnbrokers
Political organisations
Precious metals and stones, including diamond traders
Adult entertainment
Drug paraphernalia
CBD and related products
Carbon credits, including carbon credits traders
Cryptoassets
Gambling
Ponzi / pyramid schemes
Firms involved in the servicing of illegal goods/services including but not limited to: counterfeit goods/trademark infringement, human trafficking, child labor, prostitution.
Mining and extraction
Scrap metal traders
Energy traders
Speculative trading

Non-permitted industries – USA

Chemicals
FDA classified medical devices
Medications or prescription drugs
Alcohol
Tobacco
Dietary supplements
Seeds or plants
Regulated financial services
Outbound telemarketing

Non-permitted client types

Financial Institutions making payments on behalf of other financial institutions, also known as ‘nested relationships’ or ‘layering.’
Shell banks
Unregistered charities

If you're unsure if this list applies to you, reach out to support so we can advise you.

How do I make a complaint?

We're sorry we've given you reason to complain, but please get in touch and we'll look into this for you.

Email: complaints@crezco.com

Post: If you'd prefer, you can send us your complaint in writing and send to us:

Crezco Limited
192 Campden Hill Road
London, England
W8 7TH

What happens after I make a complaint?

Crezco will:

• email you an Acknowledgement Letter that we received your complaint

• ask for any extra information, if we need it

• investigate your case and your concerns

• email you to explain what actions we took and why

We will look into your case as quickly as possible send you a 'final response' within 15 business days. In exceptional circumstances, if we cannot send you a 'final response' within 15 business days, then a 'holding response' will be issued instead within the same 15 business days.

The 'holding response' will indicate the reasons for the delay and highlight an extension to the 'final response' will be sent within 35 businesses days from when the complaint was first registered.

If you are not happy with our 'final response', you have the right to refer your complaint to your ombudsman, free of charge.

How to get in touch with your ombudsman

UK: The Financial Ombudsman

Post:

Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR

Phone: You can call the Ombudsman on 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9123.

Website: Visit the Ombudsman's website for more information: financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

European Economic Area (European Union member states, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway)

Post:

Ombudsfin
North Gate II
Boulevard du Roi Albert II, n°8, bte. 2,
1000 Brussels, Belgium

Phone: + 32 2 545 77 70 (available on weekdays in the morning only for general information)

Website: www.ombudsfin.be

Email: ombudsman@ombudsfin.be

Complaints relating to international payments:

Specifically relating to the provision of international payments please note 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 international 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 https://www.currencycloud.com/legal/complaints-procedure/