The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning against WorldWiseFX a few hours ago, stating that this company would act as a clone of the FCA-authorized CurrencyWave Ltd. Indeed, the websites of CurrencyWave and WorldWiseFX are almost entirely the same. Both claim to act as agents for FCA-regulated firms. However, CurrencyWave is a registered agent of Equals Connect Limited, an FCA-authorized payment processor of the Equals Group, along with 64 other agents. Here’s an update on the Equals Group.
Key data
| Trading names | Equals Group CardOneMoney, Fair EveryWhere, Equals, Equals Money FairFX |
| Domains | Equalsplc.com CardOneMoney.com, FairEveryWhere.com EqualsConnect.com, EqualsMoney.com FairFX.com |
| Legal entity | Equals Group Plc |
| Regulatory regime | United Kingdom FCA |
| Business | Authorized Payment Institution e-Money Institution |
| Related entities | Spectrum Payment Services Limited (FCA-regulated Payment Institution) Equals Connect Limited (FCA-regulated Payment Institution) Fair Payments Ltd (FCA-regulated EMI) FairFX PLC (FCA-regulated payment institution) |
| Related individuals | Ian Strafford-Taylor, CEO Richard Cooper, CFO Christopher John Bones Sian Herbert Alan Renatus Frederick Hughes Matthijs Boon Simon England Darren James Kilner Stephen James Paul Andrew John Phillips Jack Bryant Craig Stephen Granger Anthony James Quirke |
The narrative
Equals Group Plc is a holding company in the UK fintech and forex space. It owns the FCA-regulated payment institution Spectrum Payment Services Limited d/b/a CardOneMoney and FairFX PLC d/b/a FairFX. The company’s shares are listed in the AIM segment of the London Stock Exchange. Ian Strafford-Tayler is the CEO, and Richard Cooper the CFO.
By the end of March 2022, the company had a market capitalization of £137M. According to the last financial update, Equals Group’s revenue in 2021 was £44.4 million compared to £29 million in 2020, an impressive increase of 52%. The underlying transaction volume soared 87% to more than £6.5B.
The strongest growth in 2021 was recorded by the white label segment, which grew by 220% to £7.7M and is already the second strongest segment right behind Core international payments. 81% of the revenue has been generated in the B2B segment.
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