Yes, your cash savings with Tembo are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) through our partner banks, up to £120,000 per eligible person, per bank.
How does this work?
Tembo isn't a bank but a UK savings provider, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). We hold your money in accounts with our partner banks, separate from Tembo’s own money. Our FSCS information document shows which banks hold the money for each product. If one of our partner banks failed, the FSCS would protect your money held with that bank, up to £120,000 per eligible person, per bank. Because your money is held in accounts in Tembo's name, the FSCS would need our records to work out how much of it is yours. This means payment could take up to three months, rather than the usual seven days.
If Tembo failed, your money couldn't be used to pay our debts, because it doesn't belong to us. An administrator would work out how much belongs to each customer and return it. For ISAs, they would aim to move your money to another ISA provider so it stays tax-free.
The £120,000 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. Some bank brands also share one limit because they're part of the same bank. You can check this using the FSCS's protection checker.
The proportion of your Tembo savings held with each of our partner banks can vary over time. We frequently move funds between our partner banks, and the banks we use may change over time, too. We may add more banks in the future. If the banks we use change, we'll update our FSCS information document.
If you have a Stocks & Shares Lifetime ISA, your money is invested in a fund managed by BlackRock Fund Managers Limited. If BlackRock or Tembo went out of business and you lost money as a result, the FSCS may be able to pay you compensation of up to £85,000 per person, per firm. It doesn't cover losses from your investments falling in value. Any cash you haven't invested is protected in the same way as cash savings.