Global Currency Account Terms of Service
Updated 2nd April 2020
These additional Global Currency Accounts Terms of Service (the “Terms of Service”) govern your use of Global Currency Accounts, a foreign currency payment solution for online merchants and for other businesses (the “GCA Service”) which is provided as a supplemental service by USForex Inc. dba OFX (“OFX”). In these Terms of Service, “you” and “your” refers to you, and “we,” “us” and “our” refer to OFX. By using the GCA Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service, the User Agreement, the e-Sign Consent Agreement, our Privacy Policy and all other agreements, terms, policies and guidelines applicable to the Service (which together for purposes of these Terms of Service will be referred to as the “Terms”). If any inconsistency exists between these Terms of Service and the User Agreement, these Terms of Service shall control. Capitalized terms not defined in these Terms of Service have the meanings set forth in the User Agreement.
1. Service Description
The GCA Service allows you to receive electronic payments. Payments may be received by you via transfers of funds initiated by: (i) certain companies such as online marketplaces that facilitate the sales of goods and services by you; or (ii) other companies including vendors or other third-party payors that you have invoiced or otherwise charged for goods or services you have provided or will provide (collectively, companies making payments received by you as part of the GCA Service are referred to in these Terms of Service as “GCA Payors”). Funds received in your Global Currency Account (“GC Account”) will be held until withdrawn or transferred by you. Your GC Account will not support the receipt of multiple currency denominations. You must elect a single currency for each GC Account. OFX supports GC Accounts in the following currencies: U.S. dollar, Euro, British Pound, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar, Hong Kong dollar and any other currency that OFX may enable from time to time. The GC Account is not a bank account and is subject to certain limitations and restrictions, as described in greater detail in Section 12.
2. Eligibility
To register to use the GCA Service you must have a registered OFX User Account with us. You must be a business entity authorized to do business and having your principal place of business located in the United States. You must be approved by OFX to use of the GCA Service. OFX reserves the right to reject any application for use of the GCA Service, for any reason.
3. Account Set-Up
a. Registration.
To create a GC Account and use the GCA Services you must submit additional information to us upon request. We will review your application, and will notify you if we have approved or denied your application. If we approve your application, we will enable your access to the GCA Service.
b. Verification.
Important information about procedures for opening a new account – To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, federal law requires us to obtain, verify and record information that identifies you. Therefore, to comply with applicable laws, we may request additional documents or information to verify your identity (including but not limited to your name, address, date of birth), the nature of your business or the source of funds, including without limitation government-issued identification, invoices for goods or services delivered or received by you, payment confirmations from a GCA Payor.
Such information or documentation may be used in conjunction with any other information collected by OFX in relation to your OFX User Account. Failure to provide such information or our inability to verify the accuracy of the information provided could result in denial of your application to use the GCA Service, suspension of your use of the GCA Service and/or revocation of your Account Credentials (as defined below). You agree that all information provided to us will be accurate and complete.
4. Account Credentials
Upon approval, you will be provided with a unique account identification number, a bank routing number and other relevant account details (collectively, the “Account Credentials”) to be used only to enable inbound payment to your GC Account from GCA Payors. Account Credentials may only be disclosed to GCA Payors for the sole purpose of receiving payments from such GCA Payor. You may not sell, transfer, sublicense, or disclose your Account Credentials to any third party, other than a GCA Payor.
Account Credentials must be protected and kept secure. You agree to notify OFX immediately if you know of or suspect unauthorized use of your Account Credentials. OFX may revoke your Account Credentials upon immediate notice to you at any time for any reason in OFX’s sole discretion.
5. Receiving Funds
a. Approved Marketplaces.
Where the GCA Payor is an online marketplace, only those marketplaces approved by OFX in its sole discretion may send funds to your GC Account. Payments sent by online marketplaces and or payors that are subsequently not approved by OFX at its discretion will be declined and returned to the payor. You may request a list of online marketplaces that are approved to send funds to your GC Account by contacting us at onlinesellers@ofx.com.
b. Funds Acceptance.
Only inbound payments sent from a qualified business account through the automated clearinghouse system (“ACH”), or the international equivalent electronic transfer system for the applicable currency, will be accepted and credited to a GC Account. GC Accounts may not be funded by wire transfers, cash or checks. Inbound funds must be received in the currency supported by the particular GC Account. Any attempted payments to a GC Account through an unsupported payment method or currency will be rejected and returned to the payor.
Funds received through the GCA Service will be held in your GC Account until transferred by you, unless you have selected the Auto Conversion feature (defined below).
c. Rejected Payments.
If an inbound payment is rejected or declined, a bank or other third-party provider may assess a fee in relation to the rejection. In addition, OFX may, in its discretion, assess a fee on you to cover the investigation costs and expenses. You acknowledge and agree that any fees, costs or expenses associated with a declined or rejected payment will be borne by you or the payor. In no event will we be responsible for any costs, fees or expenses assessed by a third party in relation to a rejected or declined payment.
d. Delivery Issues.
The payment and delivery of receivables to your GC Account, including the timing of receipt of the receivables and the amount of funds delivered, is controlled solely by the GCA Payor and may be subject to the GCA Payor’s terms and conditions or the terms of any applicable agreement between you and the GCA Payor. Any issues or disputes with the delivery, non-delivery or timing of the delivery must be resolved directly with the GCA Payor, and are not the responsibility of OFX.
6. Transferring Funds
You may only transfer funds from a GC Account by initiating a Transaction using our Transfer Service. Transactions can be booked by telephone or via the OFX website. For information regarding Transactions, including but not limited to the terms and any fees applicable to booking and processing Transactions, please refer to the User Agreement. You also may take advantage of our automatic booking feature, which enables automatic currency conversion and transfer of funds upon receipt from a GCA Payor (“Automatic Conversion”). If you elect to use Automatic Conversion, we will convert your funds immediately upon receipt from a GCA Payor and transfer such funds to your designated recipient account.
You acknowledge that the exchange rate used for Automatic Conversion will be based upon the rate that we receive from our bank service provider at the time that the conversion is initiated. Exchange rates fluctuate due to external market conditions, so the exchange rate used for conversion of your funds may vary for each transfer. The exchange rate assessed on your Transaction will be disclosed on your receipt and in your transaction history. Automatic Conversion is a “standing instruction” and once selected will remain the default method of transfer for a period of 12 months or until cancelled by you by contacting Customer Service. Your use of Automatic Conversion will not be cancelled or discontinued until confirmed in writing by OFX.
7. Recalled Payments
We do not accept any liability for returns or recalls initiated by you or by a GCA Payor. If you receive a payment that is recalled and returned to the GCA Payor for any reason, you are solely responsible for the full amount of the returned payment (including any fees incurred by us as a result of the return payment). In the event a GCA Payor debits or recalls funds that have been credited to your GC Account, you hereby indemnify us for any claims or losses in respect of any such deductions, together with any costs or expenses incurred by us in connection with dealing with the debit or recall requests. We reserve the right to collect from you any loss by us resulting from a recalled payment.
8. Account Balance
Any funds held by us on your behalf in a GC Account (your “Balance”) represent an unsecured claim against OFX and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any other deposit protection scheme. OFX may comingle and hold your Balance with the Balances or funds of other OFX customers in one or more pooled accounts held by us at one or more banks (each such account, a “Pooled Account”).
We will have sole discretion as to the maintenance and establishment of Pooled Accounts and you will not have any right to or be entitled to make any deposits or draw funds from any Pooled Account.
We will invest funds from Pooled Accounts in permissible investments in accordance with state money transmitter laws. All funds received for the benefit of OFX customers, including in connection with the GCA Service, are held separately from OFX corporate funds and will not be used for operating expenses or for any business purposes other than the provision of money transmission services. Additionally, OFX will not voluntarily make these funds available to creditors in the event of bankruptcy.
You will not receive and are not entitled to any interest or other earnings on your Balance or any other funds held in a Pooled Account. In consideration of your using our Services, you irrevocably assign to us all rights and legal interest to any interest or earnings attributable to funds associated with your Balance that are held in a Pooled Account.
9. Negative Account Balances
Negative account balances are not permitted. If for any reason your GC Account reflects a negative balance, you must immediately send funds to us to restore a positive balance. A negative balance represents an amount you owe to us. If you fail to take steps to bring the negative balance to a positive balance, we may suspend your access to our Services and/or take legal action to recover the outstanding amount.
10. Account History
When payment is received in your GC Account, we will send a funds notification confirmation to the email address associated with your GC Account. We do not provide account statements; however, you can view a history of your transactions (including current balance, funds received and transferred/withdrawn as well as related fees and exchange rates) by logging into your OFX User Account. If you notice any errors or unauthorized transactions in your account history, please contact us immediately by email at corporatenorthamerica@ofx.com, or by or phone at 1-888-966-6888.
11. Taxes
You are responsible for determining any and all taxes or duties that may be assessed, incurred or apply to the payments made or received to or from your GC Account, including but not limited to any value-added, sales, use or withholding taxes (“Taxes”). It is your sole responsibility to remit any such Taxes to the appropriate government tax authorities. You also are responsible for any applicable reporting requirements, including without limitation reporting in accordance with laws related to customs or foreign currency controls.
In compliance with applicable law, we may be required to make certain reports to tax authorities regarding your Transactions or payments received in connection with the GCA Service. For instance, if in any given calendar year, you receive payments totaling more than the applicable thresholds as proscribed by the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and/or state or local governments, we will be required by law to report information about you and your use of the GCA Services to the IRS. The taxpayer identification number associated with your OFX accounts will be used to determine if you reach the applicable threshold.
12. Restrictions on Use of Services
a. No Outbound Payments.
The GCA Service and the corresponding GC Account is a stored value product offered by OFX pursuant to its applicable U.S. state money transmission licenses. OFX is not a bank and does not take deposits, and the GCA Service is not a banking product or bank account and cannot be used by you as a bank account. Funds are held on your behalf in your GC Account pending subsequent payment instructions. No depositor-creditor relationship is established between you and OFX, and funds held in your GC Account represent an unsecured claim against OFX and are not insured by the FDIC or any other deposit protection scheme.
Outbound payments by you are strictly prohibited. You are not permitted to authorize withdrawals using Account Credentials or otherwise initiate an outbound funds transfer using your Account Credentials other than by initiating a Transaction in accordance with Section 6 of this Terms of Service.
b. No Personal Use.
The GCA Service is intended for business-related and commercial activities only. You are not permitted to use the GCA Service for personal, family or household purposes. OFX will block funds transferred to or from any individual or for suspected or actual use for personal, family or household purposes.
c. Unsupported Business Activities.
You may not use the GCA Service or accept payments in connection with the following business activities, products or services:
| Category | Description |
|---|---|
| Financial Services | Money transmitter, payday lenders, collection agencies, credit counselling or repair, unlicensed mortgage consulting, bill payment services, check cashing, FX exchanges, shell banks, money orders, currency exchanges or dealers, prepaid access. |
| Virtual Currency or stored value | Sale of stored value or credits maintained, issued or accepted by anyone other than the merchant. Virtual currency that can be monetized, resold or converted. |
| Counterfeit goods | Unauthorized sale of or resale of brand name or designer products or services; sale of goods or services that are illegally imported or exported. |
| Gambling | Lotteries; includes online gambling (including poker), lotteries (including sale of lottery tickets), games of chance (including sweepstakes and raffles), sports forecasting, fantasy sports leagues with cash prizes or odds-making, betting and off-track betting. |
| High-Risk Regulated Products or Services | Illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia, controlled substances, marijuana dispensaries and related businesses or any substances designed to mimic illegal drugs; e-cigarettes and e-liquid; pharmacies that operate solely via online or mail order; weapons and munitions; gunpowder and other explosives; arms dealers; toxic, flammable, and radioactive materials; products and services with varying legal status on a state-by-state basis; adult entertainment. |
| Intellectual property or proprietary rights infringement | Sales, distribution, or access to counterfeit music, movies, software, or other licensed materials without the appropriate authorization from the rights holder; any product or service that directly infringes or facilitates infringement upon the trademark, patent, copyright, trade secrets, or proprietary or privacy rights of any third party; use of OFX intellectual property without express consent from OFX; use of the OFX name that marks inconsistent with OFX’s Terms and Conditions or in a manner that otherwise harms OFX or the OFX brand; any action that implies an untrue endorsement by or affiliation with OFX. |
and Any other category of product or service that OFX decides to prohibit in its sole discretion, including any category identified in our Acceptable Use Policy.
13. Default Rights
a. Security Interest;
Set-Off Rights. As a security for the performance of your obligations under these Terms, you hereby grant OFX a security interest and lien on all funds for Transactions we process for you through the GCA Service, including funds received or credited to your GC Account. In the event you fail to pay any amount owed to us or our affiliates, including any negative balance, we may, without prior notice to you, satisfy or partially offset any such unpaid amounts (together with any fees or expenses incurred as a result of non-payment) by deducting the total unpaid amount, or a portion thereof from funds added to or held in any of your GC Accounts.
b. Collection Costs. You agree to pay all outstanding amounts owed to us upon demand. Your failure to pay amounts owed to us or our affiliates under these Terms is deemed a breach of these Terms, and you will be liable for any costs incurred to collect such amount, including any attorneys’ fees, costs of arbitration or court proceeding, collection agency fees and/or applicable interest.
14. Termination of GCA Services
We may suspend or terminate your use of the GCA Services at any time for any reason. In the event we suspend or terminate your use of the GCA Services, we will notify you at the email address associated with your GC Account. Any termination or suspension of the GCA Service will not relieve you of your obligations under these Terms, including payment of any chargeback, recalled receivables, fees or other amounts owed to us or incurred through the date of termination.
You acknowledge and agree that we have the right to recover, and you are responsible for the payment of any chargebacks, fees, costs and expenses assessed by a merchant or other third party for your activity prior to the suspension or termination of your use of the GCA Services. If your OFX User Account is closed or deactivated for any reason, your access to the GCA Services will also be terminated or suspended. Subject to our set-off rights, chargeback rights, and other conditions in these Terms, any funds held at the time of termination will be paid to your linked bank account or as otherwise directed by you. We will not be liable to you for compensation, reimbursement, or damages of any kind in connection with any termination or suspension of the GCA Service.
15. Dormant Accounts
If funds remain in your GC Account for an extended period of time, they may be deemed “abandoned” or “unclaimed” by you under applicable state law. To the extent required by applicable law, we will attempt to provide notice to you prior to the expiration of the relevant dormancy period. If you fail to contact us upon expiration of the notice period, we will be required to deliver the unclaimed funds to the appropriate government agency.
16. Additional Indemnity
In addition to your indemnity obligations under the User Agreement, you will indemnify, defend and hold harmless us and our affiliates (and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives) from and against any and all claims, costs, losses, damages, judgments, Tax assessments, penalties, interest and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of any claim brought by a third party that arises out of or relates to any payment received by you through the use of the GCA Service, including without limitation any dispute concerning products or services sold by you or transactional issues arising with GCA Payors.
17. Additional Representations, Warranties and Covenants
In addition to any warranties, representations or covenants you made to us under the User Agreement, you represent, warrant and covenant to us that in relation to your use of the GCA Service: (i) any funds received by us constitute a payment for a commercial transaction related to the sale of goods or services; (ii) you are not using the GCA Service for personal, family or household purposes; (iii) you are in compliance with all applicable foreign tax legislation, including the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”) and agree that you will remain compliant; (iv) you will accurately represent your relationship with OFX and the nature of the Account Credentials to any GCA Payor; (v) any payments received through the GCA Service were not derived from the sale of illegal, unauthorized or impermissible goods or services in violation of the Terms, including our Acceptable Use Policy; and (vi) using the GCA Service to receive payments from a GCA Payor will not breach any agreements you have with such GCA Payor.
18. Modification
We may modify these Terms of Service at any time by posting a revised version on our website or by otherwise communicating such amendments to you. Any modification to these Terms of Service will become effective upon posting or notice to you. You will be deemed to accept the modification if you continue to use the GCA Service after the amended Terms of Service have been posted. We may, at any time and without liability, modify or discontinue all or part of the GCA Service.
19. Survival
The following sections of these Terms of Service, as well as any other provision that, in order to give proper effect to its intent, should survive the termination or expiration of these Terms of Service will survive such termination: Section 11 (Taxes); Section 13 (Default Rights); Section 15 (Dormant Accounts); Section 16 (Additional Indemnities); and this Section 19 (Survival).