Politicians seem to be doing their best to put up barriers to international trade, but the innovators in the FinTech sector are having none of it. He latest example of fearless buccaneering across national borders comes from a former member of the fast-expanding international challenger bank, Revolut.
Sync., a multicurrency bank account aggregation and personal financial management service founded by Revolut’s former head of product design and strategy, has closed a £5.5 million seed round as it prepares to launch in Europe.
Billing itself as the ‘World’s First Smartbank’, sync. offers an all-in-one hub that allows users to open a sync. account in minutes, and link all existing financial accounts and cards.
Users are able to exchange currencies between their accounts and transfer money worldwide, and tap into a range of smart budgeting and spending features and in-app marketplace of third party services.
The account comes with a Mastercard card which generates a unique CVC number via the app for secure shopping. ATM withdrawals, contactless, swipe, international or online payment functionalities can also be turned on and off via the app.
Historical Performance And IFISA Process Guide
That figure is the result of over £21 million of loans facilitated on the site, as we bring individuals looking for a good return on capital together with carefully vetted small companies seeking funds for growth. Bear in mind that lenders’ capital is at risk. Read warnings on site before committing capital.
All loans on site are eligible to be held in a Money&Co. Innovative Finance Individual Savings Account (IFISA), up to the annual ISA limit of £20,000. Such loans offer lenders tax-free income. Our offering is an Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) that can hold the peer-to-peer (P2P) business loans that Money&Co. facilitates. For the purposes of this article, the terms ISA and IFISA are interchangeable.
So here’s our guide to the process:
The ISA allowance for 2019/20 is unchanged from last tax year at £20,000, allowing a married couple to put £40,000 into a tax-free environment. Over three years, an investment of this scale in two Money&Co. Innovative Finance ISAs would generate £8,400 of income completely free of tax. We’re assuming a 7 per cent return, net of charges and free of tax here.
Once you have made your initial commitment, you might then consider diversifying – buying a spread of loans. To do this, you can go into the “loans for sale” market. All loans bought in this market also qualify for IFISA tax benefits.
Risk: Security, Access, Yield
Do consider not just the return, but the security and the ease of access to your investment. We write regularly about these three key factors. Here’s one of several earlier articles on security, access and yield.