Every fintech programme, reconciled for the bank.
Safeheld reconciles the accounts you hold for fintech and payment partners every day, down to each end customer's balance, works every difference to its cause and prepares the evidence your team and your examiners need.
Every programme, every morning.
How money moves through a partner programme.
The bank holds the money. The fintech keeps the record of who owns it. Safeheld checks the two agree, every day.
Money lands in a pooled account at the bank, in the fintech's name, for its customers.
Every deposit matched to the partner's ledger the same day.The fintech records which customer owns each dollar.
The sum of every customer balance checked against the pooled account.Card spend, transfers and payouts move money in and out.
Every movement traced. Timing differences cleared by rule.A missing record, a late file or a balance that does not agree.
Worked to its cause by Safeheld, with anything missing listed for the partner.Your team approves the day's position.
A locked record kept for examiners and auditors.The bank holds the money. Now it owns the record.
Regulators expect banks to know who owns every dollar in the accounts they hold for fintech partners, even when the partner keeps the records. Joint statement on banks' arrangements with third parties to deliver deposit products, July 2024.
| Regulator | What the rule tests | What Safeheld produces |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Deposit Insurance CorporationUnited States | Proposed rule, September 2024: banks keep a record of each end customer's balance in pooled accounts, reconcile it daily and keep access if a partner fails. | Each programme reconciled to its end customers every day, in a record the bank keeps. |
| FDIC, Federal Reserve and OCCUnited States | Joint statement, July 2024: banks remain responsible for the deposit records their partners keep, and for overseeing them. | Read-only access and a locked daily position for every programme. |
| Financial Conduct AuthorityUnited Kingdom | CASS 15, from 7 May 2026: payment and e-money firms reconcile safeguarded money daily and report monthly. | The firm's daily safeguarding position, shared read-only with the bank that holds the account. |
Every report is reviewed and approved by your team before it is filed.
A morning at a partner bank.
Reconcile, resolve, forecast, approve and report, every business day.
01Reconcile
Each partner's customer ledger and the bank's own account records matched for every programme before the day starts.
02Resolve
Late files and missing records listed for the partner, and timing differences cleared by rule, each with its cause recorded.
03Forecast
Programmes heading for a shortfall flagged with the amount and the date, for the partner to fund in time.
04Approve
Your team approves the day's position for every programme, with two-step verification.
05Report
Examiners, auditors and partners see the same locked record, read-only.
Questions.
What is an FBO account?
A "for benefit of" account: one account at the bank, opened in the fintech's name, that holds many end customers' money together. The bank holds the money; the fintech's records say who owns each dollar. Safeheld checks the two agree every day.
Who runs Safeheld, the bank or the fintech?
Either. The bank can run Safeheld for every programme it holds, or ask its partners to use it and share their position with the bank read-only. Both see the same record.
What happened at Synapse, and why does it matter?
Synapse kept the customer records behind several banks' fintech programmes. When it failed in 2024, its bankruptcy trustee reported about $85 million of customer money that could not be accounted for. The banks held the money but not a reliable record of who owned it.
Does Safeheld replace our core system or the partner's ledger?
No. Safeheld reads both, checks they agree and records the result. Nothing moves without your approval.
Is the FDIC rule in force?
It was proposed in September 2024 and has not been finalised. The daily check it describes is what examiners already ask banks with fintech programmes to show.
What does the bank need to provide?
Statements for each pooled account. Partners send their customer ledger by secure file transfer or upload.