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Wallet Desk / Read the terms
Eight lines, in order
Eight lines to find
This is not a review of any wallet. It is the order in which the eight clauses that change the arithmetic appear in the documents, so that a reader can find them without reading the whole agreement.
Account stub
- Lines to find
- 8
- Largest single line
- the conversion spread, because it applies twice
- Most missed
- the inactivity charge
- Most consequential
- the safeguarding sentence
- Nothing here is a recommendation
- no wallet or operator is rated or named
the seamOne hop from one ledger to another, each with its own terms and its own fee
the wallet balanceA claim on the wallet, safeguarded and not deposit-insured
the round trip6.86 through a wallet against 4.00 direct, on one sample account
Direct answerEight clauses decide what a wallet costs and what it can do: the fee on money in, the fee on money out, the conversion spread, the inactivity charge, the closure right, the blocking tools, the safeguarding sentence and the complaint route with its regulator. Retention is the ninth thing to look at, usually at the end.
Read in this order money in, money out, conversion, inactivityThen closure, controls, safeguarding, complaints, retentionWhat to compare the two fees and the spread as one totalWhat to ignore headline claims about free deposits that name only one hopDesk position no wallet is named, rated or recommended
The four money lines
line 01The fee on money coming in
Usually a percentage with a floor. Its base is the amount you fund, which is the largest number in
the journey, so it is the fee that costs most per basis point. Its floor matters for small
deposits: a 0.50 minimum on 10.00 is 5%, not the headline rate.
line 02The fee on money going out
The same rate on a smaller base - after the game’s return - so the second fee is always smaller
than the first at an equal rate. A wallet that advertises one free direction is charging the other,
and the other is where a withdrawal leaves.
line 03The conversion spread, and how many times it applies
Ask two questions of the rate: whether it is a spread over a wholesale rate, and how many
conversions a round trip contains. A journey that converts in and out pays it twice, and the
second application is charged on money that has already been through the game.
The list, in the order the clauses appear
- Find the top-up fee, including its minimum, and note its base.
- Find the withdrawal fee and note that its base is smaller.
- Find the conversion rate and decide how many conversions a round trip contains.
- Find the inactivity charge, its trigger month and its monthly amount.
- Find the closure clause: notice, run-off and the destination the balance may be returned to.
- Find the blocking tools and whether a category block can be set.
- Find the safeguarding sentence and whether the balance is apart, in trust or insured.
- Find the complaint route and the authority that hears an unresolved case, then note the retention period.
eight lines fees per movement a minimum fee on a small deposit an inactivity charge no wallet is named
How to use the list. Total the two transfer fees and the spread into one number on a realistic deposit, then compare it with the return of the game being played. That is the only comparison on this desk that produces a decision, and it needs no opinion about any wallet - just four figures from its own terms.