Is Foremost Currency Group Safe?

Company size:

Founded in 2005, Foremost Currency Group is a financial services firm that specialises in currency exchange. In addition to offering standard money transfers, they offer products like limit orders, forward contracts, and stop/loss orders.

Compared to competitors like moneycorp, they are a much smaller company. According to their 2022 annual report, they have a team of just 4 currency dealers and judging by the revenue made in 2022, they almost certainly trade less than £2bn annually which is roughly what a medium-sized firm in this space would trade.

Regulated By:

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Conclusion:

Foremost Currency Group is a small currency brokerage with just a handful of currency dealers. Despite their modest size, the firm is authorised by the FCA as an electronic money institution and has been operating for 18 years. Foremost Currency Group is a credible and safe choice for international money transfers.

Foremost Currency Group Customer Reviews

Research:

Customer reviews for Foremost Currency Group can be found on Trustpilot.com. 1,009 customers have left reviews and only 6 reviewers reported a negative experience.

94% of respondents gave them five stars out of five. Overall, their Trust Score is 4.9/5 – an impressive achievement, given the sample size.

Conclusion:

Overall, clients are happy with Foremost Currency’s service to date with (almost) no exceptions. There are over 1,000 positive reviews and a common theme is the professionalism of the small team and excellent service on offer. Of the six bad reviews, by far the most concerning is that of a customer who had a joint account with their partner and encountered difficulties accessing the account following a divorce. However, this is a highly bespoke case and it’s difficult to read too much into it.

Foremost Currency Group Exchange Rates & Fees

Fees: Generally, no fees. However, in some cases a small fee may be applicable.

Exchange Rates: Foremost Currency Group does not publicly post their exchange rates.

Limits: Foremost Currency Group has a minimum transfer limit of £100. There is no known maximum transfer limit over the phone (just a £50,000 maximum limit for the online platform).

Conclusion:

Hard to say whether a large trade with Foremost Currency Group will be any cheaper or more expensive than with competitors like Currencies Direct or TorFX as they all operate on a similar basis, i.e. margins are not fixed and you get a better deal when you transfer more. Given this, it’s best to compare the rate you’re offered from at least two providers.

Foremost Currency Group Global Reach & Service

Research:

Dedicated Dealer: Yes

• Offices: London, UK
• Ways to approach: Online form, e-mail, phone
• Translations: English. Due to a lack of information, it is unclear if their staff speak other languages
• Accepts clients: Accepts domestic and international clients. Restrictions, if any, are not specified on website but since they have no presence in the USA we assume they are unable to take on American clients at all.
• Currencies Handled: 21
• Client reviews: 4.9/5 on Trustpilot (1,009 reviews)

Conclusion:

As a small firm, Foremost Currency Group is able to offer the sort of personalised attention which bodes well with their clients.

However, its size hurts their global reach. Foremost only offers 21 currencies, and it is unclear whether their staff speak languages other than English. Most importantly, there are no offices outside the UK.

Additional Functionalities

Foremost Currency Group offers all of the usual services one would expect from a currency broker:

• Spot contracts
• Forward contracts
• Regular transfers
• Market orders (limit + stop loss)

In this regard, it’s the bare minimum that we’d expect to see. More hedging tools than online solutions such as Wise, but less than established brokers like Global Reach Group, Currencies Direct & moneycorp who also offer options contracts.

In addition to international payments, prospective customers can also enquire about travel money.