Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Learn more about Flagstone
Flagstone is the UK’s leading cash deposit platform*. Where individuals, businesses, and charities can open and manage multiple savings accounts, from 60+ banks. All in one place, with a single application.
Founded in 2013, we now help over 600,000 clients protect and grow their cash.
Flagstone is registered as Flagstone Group Ltd, and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 for the provision of payment services. Reference number 605504.
*Based on our number of partner banks, assets under administration, and client service scores.
With Flagstone, your clients can:
Maximise their interest. With exclusive interest rates to choose from, they can grow their cash with minimal effort. After all – few dreams fund themselves.
Escape the paperwork. Access 200+ savings accounts from 65+ banks, with one application, and one password. Easily move and manage their cash, forever.
Protect what’s theirs. Effortlessly divide their cash between banking groups, and ensure greater FSCS protection on eligible deposits. Like a suit of armour for their savings.
We’re not a bank. Instead, our bank partners list their accounts on our platform – including exclusive rates – to reach more smart savers.
We now partner with over 65 banks, more than any other cash deposit platform.
Flagstone lets your clients open multiple savings accounts from 65+ banks. All in one platform, with a single application.
This makes it easy to create and manage a cash portfolio. Choose from 200+ savings accounts (including Fixed Term, Notice, and Instant Access), spread your clients’ cash between accounts, and increase their FSCS protection (where eligible).
We’ve built strong relationships with each of our 65+ partner banks. And, because we now have over £18bn in assets on our platform, we’re able to access exclusive and market-leading* interest rates for Flagstone clients.
*Based on our number of partner banks, assets under administration, and client service scores.
For each savings account you open through Flagstone, we receive a small share of the interest. We deduct that share before we feature any savings account on our platform – so the rate you see will be the rate you receive.
We also receive interest from cash in the holding account.
Learn more about our Share of Interest model in this short explainer.
When your clients transfer funds to Flagstone, we hold them in a ‘holding account’, provided by HSBC Bank plc.
The holding account acts like a wallet, which clients can use to open savings accounts with 65+ banks. It’s also where we’ll return any deposits that mature, and any withdrawals they make.
The funds in their holding account are held in a ‘blind trust’. That means they’re always the sole beneficial owner – we never have any access to their cash. We also never pool their cash with Flagstone’s own funds.
In short, no. Our aim is to make it easy for your clients to select and open whichever savings accounts suit their goals. They retain full control over their cash, always.
Yes. With a single Flagstone application, your clients can open and manage savings accounts from 65+ banks. All in one place, with one password.
Yes. Your clients can download consolidated statements that show every penny they’ve earnt in interest over the course of a year, across their entire Flagstone portfolio. For minimal admin when tax time rolls around.
We’ll keep them updated by email. We regularly add new banks and savings accounts to the platform, and they’ll always be the first to know.
The Flagstone platform caters to a diverse range of clients, including individuals, businesses, and charities. This extends to individuals managing cash through corporate entities, trusts, or other legal structures, such as SIPP or SSAS arrangements.
To confirm a client’s eligibility to use the Flagstone platform, please reach out to one of our Business Development Managers at business.development@flagstoneim.com.
The minimum deposit for your individual or joint account clients is £50,000. This rises to £100,000 for UK-registered companies, and £250,000 for charities and trusts (including SIPPs and SSASs).
There is no maximum deposit limit for opening their Flagstone account – but many of our bank partners have their own limits for individual savings accounts. We’ll always clearly illustrate minimum and maximum deposits for each savings accounts available through the platform.
Yes, we offer joint accounts.
To refer a client, sign up to the platform by registering online in minutes. Once we have your client’s details, we’ll send them a link so they can start their application.
For individual and joint accounts, we’ll always need you to complete an online application. This asks for your:
- Address history for past three years
- National Insurance Number and/or TIN
- The details for your nominated bank account
In some cases, we may need further documentation to comply with FCA regulations. This includes proof of source of funds, and source of wealth.
If you’re submitting a paper application, please make sure to sign both your application form and Engagement Letter.
For individual and joint accounts, we’re able to approve most online applications in just a few minutes. But there are instances where we’ll need more information. In this case, once we have all the documents we need, we’ll typically open your clients’ account within two working days.
For business, charity, and trust accounts, we’ll typically open your clients’ account within two working days, once we’ve received their signed application and any supporting documents.
If your clients would like to delete their Flagstone account, they should contact the Client Services Team at clientservices@flagstoneim.com or 0203 745 8130. We’ll review their request, and respond within 30 days. Before we can fulfil the request, we may need additional information such as proof of ID.
This process is in line with their rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), including the right to request the erasure of your clients’ personal data (also know as the right to be forgotten). We may need to retain certain data for legal or regulatory reasons – for example, our anti-money laundering obligations. We’ll always let them know if we need to keep any data for these or other reasons.
Once we’ve erased their data, this process is irreversible. If they’d like to open a new account with Flagstone in the future, they’ll need to complete the application process again.
If you have any questions about how we process your clients’ data, you can learn more in our Privacy Notice. Alternatively, you can contact our Data Protection Officer at data.protection@flagstoneim.com.
For security and control, each client account allows only one named individual to give instructions. Your client will have full transactional access, while you, as their trusted adviser, will have ‘read-only’ access. If needed, we can also grant ‘read-only’ access to a second individual, such as in joint accounts or if your client wishes a third party to see the account. You can also set up confirmation emails for new accounts, transfer instructions, and deposit confirmations to go to other designated recipients.
As an adviser, you can also add additional ‘read-only’ users from your business to help manage your client’s account effectively.
Clients can withdraw their cash from the Flagstone platform by providing an instruction through the platform.
For security purposes, cash held with Flagstone partner banks can’t be transferred to third parties or other external accounts. Instead, all cash is first returned to the client’s holding account, and from there it can only be transferred to the ‘nominated account’ the client specified during their initial application. This ensures a secure and streamlined process for managing client cash.
No – they can open as many savings accounts as they need
Yes, they can make as many payments as they need. They just need to ensure they include their unique client reference in any payments they make.
This helps us make sure their funds arrive in the right holding account. If they don’t quote their unique reference, we may need to return their payment. This could result in lost interest.
Flagstone’s top priority is the security of our clients’ cash. As an FCA-authorised company under the Payment Services Regulations, we uphold strict standards to safeguard client assets, maintain regulatory capital, and comply with Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) requirements
We hold client cash within a trust structure, ensuring that clients retain full ownership of their cash at all times. This cash is kept separate from our own assets and it doesn’t appear on our balance sheet. This structure eliminates any credit risk for clients.
In the unlikely event of Flagstone entering administration, clients would retain full ownership of their cash, and the administrator would return it in full.
All UK banks on the Flagstone platform are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), providing the same level of protection as if your client deposited directly with the bank.
All eligible deposits benefit from FSCS protection of up to £85,000 per client, per banking group (or £170,000 for joint accounts). This applies to cash in the holding account and any UK savings accounts your client opens through Flagstone.
If your client has both an individual account and a joint account with Flagstone, the £85,000 protection limit applies to the cash they hold across these accounts within the same banking group, not to each account separately.
For more information, please visit the FSCS website.
Flagstone prioritises security through partnerships with top-tier providers and security experts to ensure our technology stays up to date. Internally, we have Flagstone have strong controls, including restricted access, segregation of duties, and signature protocols to protect client funds. Payments are only authorised from the client’s holding account to their designated nominated account, with no third-party payments allowed.
For each savings account your client opens, Flagstone will receive a share of the interest (up to 0.25%).
Flagstone deducts that share from the interest rate before it features any savings account on the platform, so the rate your client sees is the rate they will receive.
There are no monthly management or administration fees on this fee model.
If you choose to receive commission, we’ll process payments to you on an annual basis. However, if a different payment schedule was agreed upon at the start of our partnership, we’ll honour that agreement.
Like a wallet, this holds your clients’ cash while they choose which savings accounts to open.
It’s provided by HSBC, so all eligible deposits are protected up to £85,000 per client, per banking group. Or £170,000 for joint accounts.
Your clients can use it to fund new savings accounts, and hold returning cash while they decide what's next. They can fund and withdraw at any time.
Cash in the holding account doesn’t earn your clients any interest. So, once your clients have funded, it's important for them to open savings accounts as soon as possible.
As part of setting up their Flagstone account, clients will need to nominate a UK current account as their ‘nominated account’. Clients will use this account each time they fund or withdraw from their holding account.
Clients must use a UK current account as their nominated account. We can’t accept any other account type, including savings accounts.
They’ll also need to ensure the name on their nominated account matches the name on their Flagstone application. For joint Flagstone accounts, the nominated account only needs to match one of the names on the Flagstone application.
The unique 'Reference Code' is provided in your clients’ holding account details under 'Add Funds' section.
When clients are transferring money from their nominated account, the unique 'Reference Code' should be provided along with account details for Flagstone to process their transfers.
With an instant access account, the funds remain in your clients’ account indefinitely until they provide Flagstone with notice that they want to return the funds to their holding account.
On receipt of their instruction, Flagstone will instruct the bank to return the funds to their holding account.
Once the funds are back in your clients’ holding account, Flagstone will send them a confirmation by email.
With a notice account, your clients’ funds remain in the account indefinitely until they provide Flagstone with notice that they want to return the funds to their holding account.
On receipt of their instruction, Flagstone will give notice to the bank and the notice period will start (e.g. 120 days for a 120 day notice account).
When the notice period expires, funds will automatically be returned to their holding account.
Once the funds are back in their holding account, Flagstone will send them a confirmation by email.
A term account has a specific term (e.g. 3 months, 12 months etc.)
Once a term account is opened and funded, it cannot be broken until the end of the term.
This means that your clients’ cash is locked up in the account for the full length of the term, after which it automatically returns to their holding account.