Security
Your balance is not our balance.
Kelvern is an electronic money institution, not a bank. That means we cannot lend your money out, and we must keep it apart from our own. Here is exactly how.
What safeguarding means if something goes wrong
Every pound, euro or dollar you hold with Kelvern sits in a safeguarding account at a UK clearing bank, in Kelvern's name but held for our customers. The bank knows it is customer money and cannot use it to settle Kelvern's own debts.
If Kelvern ever failed, an insolvency practitioner would return the safeguarded money to customers, after their own costs, before any other creditor is paid. The process is set out in the Electronic Money Regulations.
Safeguarding is not the same as deposit insurance. It protects you if Kelvern fails; it does not cover a failure of the safeguarding bank itself. We use a UK clearing bank for exactly that reason, and we tell you which one when you open an account.
Kelvern Payments Ltd is authorised by [regulator] as an Electronic Money Institution, reference 000000. Registered in England and Wales, company 00000000.
Six controls on every account
All of these are on by default. None of them costs extra.
Payee name check
UK and SEPA payees are checked against the name on the account before the first payment. A mismatch stops the payment and tells you why.
Changed bank details are held
When a supplier’s details change, the next payment waits for approval from someone other than the person who changed them.
Device and location alerts
A login from a new device or country needs 2FA and sends an email to every admin on the account.
Roles, not shared logins
Viewer, preparer, approver and admin. Everyone has their own login, and every action is logged against it for seven years.
Encrypted everywhere
TLS 1.3 in transit, AES-256 at rest, and card numbers held by a PCI DSS Level 1 processor, never on our servers.
Tested by outsiders
An independent penetration test every year and a public bug bounty. We publish the date of the last test on this page.
Questions about safeguarding?
Our compliance team answers them on the phone, and will send the audit letter to your accountant on request.
Or call the payments desk on 0113 496 0128, Mon–Fri, 07:30–18:00 UK time.