From Our Founders: The New Goldmoney Holding
Jun 19, 2017Dear Goldmoney Clients,
We launched an important update today with the consolidation of our services under one unique account offering: The Goldmoney® Holding. In light of this update, we – Goldmoney founders James Turk, Roy Sebag, and Josh Crumb – want to provide this personal note of background for additional clarity, and share the reasons behind this decision.
As you may know, Goldmoney has been steadily evolving over the past two years since two independent platforms came together in a shared vision for clients: the BitGold platform developed by Roy Sebag and Josh Crumb, and GoldMoney, the original online precious metal investment service founded by James Turk.
We sincerely appreciate the loyalty shown by clients from both platforms, even as some of the look, feel, and services of the accounts have evolved; however, we want to first and foremost reiterate that the shared core mission to democratize access to precious metals savings and provide the world’s most financially secure savings platform has never wavered.
When it comes to business operations, we believe that one should always be open to change, and that it’s incumbent upon an operator to consider and incorporate new information as it arises and make necessary improvements. With this in mind, we listened to the feedback provided by clients located in more than 150 countries over the past two years, and it became abundantly clear to us that Goldmoney as a service is still very much misunderstood and that – whether directly or indirectly – Goldmoney as a business is also somewhat misunderstood.
Upon reviewing the primary requests from clients, we found:
- Network clients wanted to buy and spend silver.
- Network clients wanted to have phone-based customer support.
- Wealth clients wanted to make and receive payments.
- Business clients wanted to hold currency in addition to metals.
- Wealth clients wanted to have client support in North American time zones.
At the outset, there were reasons for the various fragmentations in each of our service offerings: Personal, Business, and Wealth. Some of them had to do with what was permitted based on our regulatory licenses, while others had to do with our value proposition and vision for client service; however, over the last few months, it became apparent that we must incorporate the feedback we have received to improve and strengthen the most important relationship we have: the one we have with you, our clients.
As such, we have conducted a major overhaul of the account types from the bottom up, which was guided by a unifying vision to provide: more flexibility, more optionality, and better customer service. This overhaul included thousands of lines of code, renewed regulatory licensing and permissions, and a personal dedication to admit that some of our prior decisions about the account options and interface created too much confusion around the core service and offering. However, while we’ve committed to building better tools and menus in order to provide improved service and utility for your assets and Holdings, what will never change is our primary commitment to the security of your Holdings, the chain of integrity of client metal, and the assurances we provide regarding client assets.
The New Goldmoney® Holding
We are pleased to present the new streamlined Goldmoney service operating under one unified account. Effective today, all new Goldmoney accounts will be opened as Goldmoney Holdings (Individual, Corporate, Trust). The renewed Client Agreement maintains that each client enters into a custodial relationship with the regulated JFSC entity (Goldmoney Wealth Limited) while maintaining agency access to our FINTRAC and FinCEN-regulated subsidiaries for payments, transfers, and various funding and redemption options.
- Clients with existing Goldmoney Wealth Holdings will instantly experience the new branding and features available to them in their Dashboard.
- Network users who opened an account prior to June 19, 2017 will continue to have full access to their existing accounts, but are encouraged to apply for the new Goldmoney Holding. Once the new Holding is verified, users can transfer metal from any verified Network account into the new Holding free of charge from most Network vaults, resulting in a credit to the same vault in their Holding.
- A superior Goldmoney Referral Program is available within the new Goldmoney Holding in lieu of the Golden Heart program, which has been discontinued. The Referral Program is far more rewarding than the Golden Heart program on a performance basis; referrers earn 25% of the buy and sell orders of the net revenue of their referred clients for two years, which is paid in metal at the end of each month.
New Goldmoney Holding Features
- Buy and sell 100% reserved and allocated gold, silver, platinum, and palladium at 0.5%.
- Direct metal-to-metal exchanges between all precious metals at 0.75%.
- Insured custody and secure storage at 13 vaults located in six countries that are operated by leading vault providers: Brink’s, G4S, Loomis International, Malca-Amit, Rhenus Logistics, and the Royal Canadian Mint.
- Hold in reserve or exchange up to nine currencies without paying foreign exchange fees (USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, CHF, JPY, NZD, HKD, AUD).*
- Multiple funding and redemption options (bank transfer, debit and credit cards, AliPay, etc.) including physical redemption (bars, GoldCubes, and coins) at vaults or direct-to-consumer delivery via SchiffGold (coming soon).*
- Send and receive free precious metal and currency payments to and from Goldmoney Holding owners globally (gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and all nine available currencies).*
- Goldmoney Mastercard® Prepaid cards in plastic, silver, and 18K gold (available in CHF, EUR, GBP & USD).*
- Earn precious metals and send free metal payments with Goldmoney business tools (payroll & invoicing).*
- New monthly storage credit program rewards active precious metal buyers and sellers.
- Earn precious metal commissions with the Goldmoney Referral Program.*
- Mobile Holding access via the Goldmoney App for iOS and Android.
- Access to wealth services, pension plans, exclusive research, and events.
- Access to the complimentary Goldmoney Concierge service.*
- Dedicated personal Relationship Manager support via phone, email, live chat, and secure message.
Please note that Goldmoney Holdings do not require minimum balances. Basic Holdings have a maximum funding value of $150,000 USD or equivalent. Full Holdings are unlimited. To apply for a free Goldmoney Holding, visit goldmoney.com.
We are now communicating a more succinct message to our shareowners, with a unique focus on Return on Metal Weight (ROMW). With a strong balance sheet and no debt, we are well positioned to execute on our vision for growth while balancing the most important pillar of all: our assurances of integrity and safety to our global clients who entrust us with nearly $2 billion of precious metal savings.
In conclusion, we have never been more excited about the future of Goldmoney Inc. and the service we offer to you, our valued clients. We believe this transition to be the last major infrastructure change in our service offering. From this point forward, improvements to the service will be modular and built into the one unified Goldmoney Holding.
We thank you for your continued support and trust.
Sincerely,
Goldmoney Founders
James Turk, Lead Director
Roy Sebag, CEO
Josh Crumb, CFO
*Limited to Goldmoney clients with Full Holdings.