United Kingdom · Payments & e-money
Fairfx PLC
Legal name in the LEI recordEQUALS MONEY PLC
Equals Money PLC is a public limited company registered in England and Wales, with its seat in London. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorises it as an authorised payment institution under reference 488396. Its parent is Equals Group Limited. A consortium of TowerBrook, J.C. Flowers and Railsr shareholders took Equals Group Limited private in April 2025. The firm provides business customers with international payments, multi-currency accounts, FX and expense cards. Its cards are issued by a sister company, Equals Money International Limited, which the FCA authorises as an electronic money institution.
Licences and registrations
Held by Equals Money PLC (LEI 213800J3DP278ZUVOD11). 1 entry on 1 of the 22 tracked registers, retrieved 25 September 2026.
| Register | Licence | Number | Jurisdiction | Status | Registered | Ends | Activities | Register entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCA Financial Services Register - Payment Institutions & RAISPsFCALinked by LEI. Matched by Elucidate to GLEIF on name and country only. | Small Payment InstitutionPayment InstitutionGLEIF legal name: EQUALS MONEY PLC | 511283 | United Kingdom | Cancelled - Small PI | — | Ended 2010-02-01 |
|
Search the register ↗ |
Every licence and registration listed here is inactive on its register. The BIC remains in Swift’s directory.
The register name differs from the legal name in GLEIF. This can follow a rename. Treat the LEI match as indicative.
- Licences belong to the legal entity, not to a BIC.
- Each licence applies in the country of the regulator that granted it.
- Registers are tracked in 37 countries. Licences granted elsewhere are not recorded here.
- The register entries and their trading names were not matched against sanctions lists. The sanctions facts on this page cover the BIC and its LEI only.
Other register entries with this LEI
Shown for reference: they share the LEI but are not merged into this page
Swift network
Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory
- BIC
- FAIFGB21XXX head office
- Connection to Swift
- Passive participant (no connection)This BIC is registered for identification only. The institution has no direct connection to the Swift network. Messages and payments reach it through a correspondent bank. The “1” in the eighth character of FAIFGB21 marks a passive participant.
- Swift GPI
- Not on the member list
- Payment schemes and systems
- No entry in the EPC registers, the ECB T2 and TIPS lists or the SIX Bank Master cites this BIC
- Branch codes
- None: head-office BIC only
- BIC first registered
- 2018-11-03
- Last updated
- 2018-11-03
Overview
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
Customers
Not published
Employees
Not published
Ownership
Group subsidiary
Equals Group Limited
Firm type
FX and business payments
Trades as Equals (formerly Equals Money)
- Standing
- The firm was named FairFX PLC until 13 September 2022, when it became Equals Money PLC. In June 2026 the combined Equals Money and Railsr business rebranded as Equals.
- Ownership
- Equals Group Limited holds 75% or more of the firm's shares and voting rights. Since April 2025, Alakazam Holdings BidCo Limited has owned Equals Group Limited, and BidCo is indirectly owned by a consortium of TowerBrook funds, J.C. Flowers funds and Railsr shareholders.
- Direct parent
- Equals Group Limited ↗, United Kingdom
- Head office
- 3rd Floor, Vintners' Place, 68 Upper Thames Street, EC4V 3BJ London, United Kingdom
- Company register
- Companies House 05539698
- Incorporated
- 18 Aug 2005
- Former names
- FAIRFX PLC · FAIRFX LIMITED · BONDCO 1132 LIMITED
Online
- Websites & references
- equalsmoney.com ↗
docs.equalsmoney.com ↗ API documentation
status.equalsmoney.com ↗ service status page
equalsplc.com ↗ group investor site (Equals Group) - Official social accounts
- LinkedIn ↗ · X ↗ · Facebook ↗ · Instagram ↗
- Apps
- App Store ↗ · Google Play ↗
Sources · 11 pages consulted
- register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=001b000000MfyMGAAZ
- find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05539698
- find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05539698/officers
- find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05539698/persons-with-significant-control
- find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05539698/filing-history
- equalsmoney.com/why-equals-money
- uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5f5f51a18621aab5358e77de/65785a28d35fd882d6d97932_Equals%20Money%20Terms%20and%20Conditio
- equalsmoney.com/newsroom/equals-money-railsr-becomes-equals
- equalsmoney.com/blog/equals-money-railsr-expands-senior-leadership-with-four-new-appointments
- equalsplc.com/content/news/archive/2025/140425.asp
- towerbrook.com/railsr-and-equals-combine-to-create-one-of-europes-largest-embedded-finance-providers/
Authorisation
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Operates under
- Several models
- Licensed firm it operates under
- Equals Money International Limited, United Kingdom Group company that issues Equals Money Cards pursuant to a licence from Mastercard International Inc.
The FCA authorises the firm as an authorised payment institution (reference 488396) for money remittance, operating payment accounts and issuing or acquiring payment instruments. Its cards are issued by its sister company, Equals Money International Limited, which the FCA authorises as an electronic money institution (reference 900493).
| Authority | Licence or registration | Number | Held | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Conduct Authority United Kingdom | Authorised Payment Institution | 488396 | In its own name | Active | register.fca.org.uk ↗ |
Licences and registrations the research found, at home and abroad, as the firm and its regulators publish them. The Licences and registrations card shows the entries on the registers the directory tracks.
Partners and safeguarding
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Safeguarding
- Segregated safeguarding accountsThe firm states that customer funds are segregated from its own and, if held after the next business day, placed in separate accounts with an authorised credit institution or the Bank of England. It says these accounts are held with Tier 1 banks, which it does not name.
- Card issuer
- Equals Money International Limited United Kingdom
- Payment schemes and card networks
- Mastercard Through a partner equalsmoney.com ↗
Faster Payments Access not stated equalsmoney.com ↗
Banks and regulated firms the firm says hold its customers’ money, issue its cards, sponsor its accounts or settle its payments, as it discloses them in its terms and notices.
Products and markets
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
The firm offers business customers international payments in over 140 currencies, multi-currency accounts and forward contracts. It also offers prepaid Mastercard expense cards and embedded-finance, API and white-label services.
The firm serves business customers from the UK under its FCA authorisation. The group also runs EU and US websites, but this entity's role in serving those markets is not stated.
- Payment volume
- GBP 58bntransaction processing volume, 2025/26, stated by the combined Equals (Equals Money and Railsr) business
- Sells to
- Small businesses · Enterprises · Platforms and marketplaces
- Serves customers in
- United Kingdom
Leadership
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Chief executive
- Ian Strafford-Taylor Chief Executive Officer (Equals); director of Equals Money PLC
- Executive
- Matthijs Willem Adriaan Boon Director
- Executive
- Andrew John Phillips Director
- Executive
- James Lingard Simcox Director
- Executive
- Rosanna Colangeli Company Secretary
Recent events
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
-
Other
The combined Equals Money and Railsr business rebranded as Equals and said it had processed over GBP 58 billion in 2025/26.
equalsmoney.com ↗ -
Leadership
Equals Money | Railsr announced four senior appointments, including Nathan Best as Chief Revenue Officer.
equalsmoney.com ↗ -
Other
The firm registered a charge at Companies House, created on 22 December 2025.
find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk ↗ -
Merger / acquisition
The consortium that took Equals private completed its acquisition of Railsr, combining the two businesses.
towerbrook.com ↗ -
Merger / acquisition
Alakazam Holdings BidCo Limited acquired the parent, Equals Group plc, which then left AIM.
equalsplc.com ↗
Compliance-relevant events of the last three years, newest first: fines and enforcement, investigations, security incidents, licence changes, funding rounds, acquisitions and leadership changes. Each links to its source.
Identifiers
Head-office record
- BIC
- FAIFGB21XXX
- How the BIC breaks down
- FAIFBank
- GBCountry · United Kingdom
- 21Location · passive
- XXXBranch · head office
- Branch description
- Not recorded in the directory
- LEI
- 213800J3DP278ZUVOD11
- LEI record
- View on GLEIF ↗
- Licence no. · FCA-PSD
- 511283
- How the LEI was matched
- BIC: Mapped to this BIC in the Swift and GLEIF BIC-to-LEI relationship file.Register entry: Matched by Elucidate to GLEIF on name and country only.
- Register-entry ID
- 1fbfa9d42eb9
Profile
- Type
- Payments & e-moneyPayment institutions, e-money and stored-value issuers, and account-information providers. Licensed under payment-services law (e.g. PSD2 in the EU and UK, the Payment Services Act in Singapore). Taken from the licences on the tracked registers.
- Regulation
- Not on a tracked registerNo licence or registration was found for this entity on the registers the directory tracks, or on the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks are licensed by national supervisors whose registers are not tracked yet. This does not mean that the institution is unregulated.
- Register licences
- 1 entry on 1 register all inactive
- Activities
- Payment services
- Last licensed in
- United Kingdom
- Country · region
- United Kingdom · Europe & Central Asia
- Trading venues (MIC)
- No MIC registered under this LEI list of 2026-09-17
- OFAC sanctions
- No listing cites this BIC
- EU sanctions
- No listing matched this BIC or its LEI
- Country sanctions
- No country programme
Types come from Swift’s BIC classification, the licences on the 22 tracked registers, and the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks outside the euro area appear as financial institutions, because their supervisors’ registers are not tracked yet.
No licence or registration was found for this entity on the 22 registers the directory tracks, or on the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks are licensed by national supervisors whose registers are not tracked yet. This does not mean that the institution is unregulated.
Ownership and group
GLEIF relationship records
- Direct parent
- Equals Group Limited · United Kingdom213800CPI5S2GYB3RI27 ↗
The Equals Group Limited group has 8 institutions in the directory, in 1 country: 4 hold a BIC and 4 do not.
Including Equals Money International Limited, Equals Money UK Limited, Equals Money UK Limited, Fair Payments Limited, Equals Connect Limited.
See the Equals Group Limited group →Group membership follows the accounting-consolidation relationships reported to GLEIF. It does not show ownership shares or control.
Addresses
- Registered address
- VINTNERS PLACE FLOOR 3 68 UPPER THAMES STREET LONDON EC4V 3BJ UNITED KINGDOM
- Operational address
- VINTNERS PLACE FLOOR 3 68 UPPER THAMES STREET LONDON LONDON EC4V 3BJ UNITED KINGDOM
ISO 20022 identification
As an agent in a Swift cross-border payment message (CBPR+)
A CBPR+ message identifies this institution by its BIC, and may add its LEI or a clearing code. CBPR+ does not allow a name and postal address next to a BIC.
- Identified by
- BIC, with its LEI
- Roles in CBPR+
- Debtor agent, creditor agent or an intermediary agent
CBPR+
For cross-border payments on Swift: the BIC, with the LEI and clearing code where known
<FinInstnId>
<BICFI>FAIFGB21XXX</BICFI>
<LEI>213800J3DP278ZUVOD11</LEI>
</FinInstnId>Full record
Every ISO 20022 element the directory holds. Base ISO 20022 allows them together. CBPR+ does not allow a name and address next to a BIC
<FinInstnId>
<BICFI>FAIFGB21XXX</BICFI>
<LEI>213800J3DP278ZUVOD11</LEI>
<Nm>FAIRFX PLC</Nm>
<PstlAdr>
<TwnNm>LONDON</TwnNm>
<Ctry>GB</Ctry>
<AdrLine>VINTNERS PLACE FLOOR 3 68 UPPER THAMES STREET LONDON EC4V 3BJ</AdrLine>
</PstlAdr>
</FinInstnId>This BIC is not connected to Swift. Messages reach the institution through a correspondent bank, so it cannot be the instructing or instructed agent.
The BIC, name and address are as published in Swift’s BIC directory. The LEI comes from the Swift and GLEIF BIC-to-LEI file. Check them against your own records before use.
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Sources & method
Every value comes from a public source, such as Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory, GLEIF or the OFAC and EU sanctions lists. Most sources are matched on a BIC or an LEI, not on a name.
Swift GPI membership is matched on names and is indicative. A missing sanctions match does not mean that no listing applies. Always screen against the official lists.
Register entries are not screened against sanctions lists. The sanctions facts on this page cover the BIC and its LEI only.
An institution is one entry in the directory: a BIC8 in Swift’s directory, or a firm on a tracked register that holds no BIC. Licences held by an institution with a BIC are shown on its page.
Read the methodology →Credits for this page
- FCA Financial Services Register - Payment Institutions & RAISPs—Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) · register ↗ as at 25 September 2026
- Ownership and group—GLEIF Level 2 relationship records (accounting consolidation), matched by LEI.
- Overview, authorisation, partners, products, leadership and events—researched per institution by an AI model with web search, from the firm's own website, terms and filings, regulators' registers and notices, company registers and news. Licences, partners, figures, people and events link to their source, and each card shows the research date. AI research can be wrong or out of date, so check key facts at the source.
- Images—logos and photos from Wikimedia Commons (credited with their author and licence) or from the institution's own website, where Wikimedia has none. Elucidate keeps a copy of each; the links lead to the source and the original image. Logo: equalsmoney.com (official website) · original.
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