Tembo is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and abides by their strict governance and compliance rules, as well as being trusted by thousands of savers across the UK. We are also backed by investment from leading financial businesses including Aviva and Nationwide, as well as from ethical investors such as Big Society Capital.

But we’re not a bank. Instead, the money you place in your Tembo Cash ISA or Tembo Cash Lifetime ISA is held in a bank-level security account with our partner banks - Barclays and the Bank of Scotland - which safeguard your funds. As well as being trusted, national establishments, Barclays and the Bank of Scotland are both covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This means that if one of these banks were to fail, your money would be protected through the FSCS scheme - up to £85,000 per eligible person, per bank.

Please note the £85,000 limit applies to the total amount of money you hold at any one bank, whether it is deposited by Tembo, by other providers, or by you directly with the bank. So, for example if you have a Barclays current account, the funds held in this account will take up part of your £85,000 claim limit for Barclays. Any interest which is due but not paid is not protected by the FSCS.

Similarly, if you have a Stocks & Shares Lifetime ISA, the units held are in a fund managed by BlackRock Fund Managers Limited. This is an FCA-authorised fund and the units held are FSCS-protected, up to a value of £85,000. Please note that the FSCS protection applies per individual - you cannot claim if the shortfall or loss was a result of an investing risk. The FSCS will not accept any claims for investment underperformance or losses.

The reason we hold customer funds with partner banks is due to strict rules prescribed by the FCA. This ensures customer funds are separate from our funds and ring-fenced - so we cannot use them for any purpose whatsoever. Therefore, if Tembo were to cease operating, your funds are protected and Tembo would not be allowed to access them to support any ongoing activities.

For Lifetime ISAs, this means if we defaulted, to avoid the withdrawal charge and ensure your funds stay within the Lifetime ISA’s tax wrapper your funds would be transferred from us to another Lifetime ISA provider. You would then be able to transfer or withdraw those funds in the same way that you can now.

For Cash ISAs, your funds would be transferred from us to another ISA fund manager to ensure your money stays within the ISA’s tax wrapper. You would then be able to transfer or withdraw those funds in the same way that you can now.