FCA orders payment app Zeux to cease all marketing of “Easy Access Money Pot”
The order applies, inter alia, to Zeux’s existing promotional material in public spaces such as the London Underground.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a notice on its website about the imposition of requirements on payment app Zeux. The firm has applied to the FCA for the imposition of the requirements with immediate effect.
On January 22, 2020, Zeux agreed with the FCA not to proceed with its planned London Underground marketing campaign that specifically mentioned Zeux’s “Easy Access Money Pot” and, to halt all other promotion of this product.
When Zeux agreed to stop its planned London Underground marketing campaign of the “Easy Access Money Pot” product, TFL had already put some of the adverts up (before the campaign was due to go live). Zeux contacted TFL to get these adverts taken down, but, given the size of the network, this can take time.
On January 24, 2020, Zeux also agreed with the regulator to temporarily pause the access for new customers to the “Easy Access Money Pot” product, whilst the FCA assessed certain regulatory/legal requirements and, subject to this, whether the advertisements were clear, fair, and not misleading. Zeux informed the Authority that this was achieved through an update to the Zeux app that went into effect on February 1, 2020.
However, on February 4, 2020, the FCA became aware of a “This is Money” article that was originally published at 12:24 on February 4, 2020 by the Daily Mail and included a short interview with Zeux. The regulator finds that this was advertising of the “Easy Access Money Pot” product. Hence, the FCA considers that the statements made in the interview promoted the product and therefore breached the above agreement.
The FCA imposes the following requirements on Zeux:
- To cease all promotion and marketing of Zeux’s “Easy Access Money Pot” product whether online or not, including by removing any existing promotional material from public spaces such as the London Underground. This requirement includes removing any reference to “Easy Access Money Pot” from the homepage of zeux.com but excludes material in the FAQ section of the Zeux website which could be relevant to existing “Easy Access Money Pot” customers.
- To cease onboarding any new customers in relation to the “Easy Access Money Pot” product.
- To seek written consent from the Authority before providing any comment to the media about the “Easy Access Money Pot” product.
These requirements will remain in force until Zeux is able to satisfy the FCA that the “Easy Access Money Pot” meets all regulatory and legal requirements, and subject to this, whether the advertisements in relation to it are clear, fair and not misleading.
