Is my money safe with Align?

Who Align is

Align Payments Ltd., based in Toronto, is registered with FINTRAC, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, as a money services business, registration no. N300000203. You can look the number up in FINTRAC's public registry. As a registered money services business, Align has to run a compliance program, verify its customers, monitor their payments and report suspicious transactions. Its parent, Align Labs Ltd, is registered in England and Wales.

Align isn't a bank. Regulated services, such as the named bank account details your customers pay into, are provided through licensed financial institutions.

How your balance is held

Your balance is held as stablecoins: USDC and USDT for dollars, and EURC for euros. Each is a digital token that its issuer redeems one for one in its currency and backs with reserves:

• USDC and EURC are issued by Circle, which publishes its reserves. See EURC vs USDC.
• USDT is issued by Tether, which publishes quarterly attestations. See USDT vs USDC for business.

Align doesn't issue stablecoins. Each business's balance sits in a wallet of its own, separate from other customers' balances and from Align's own money. When a customer pays you by bank transfer, the payment arrives through Align's licensed partners and lands in your balance; when you pay a supplier by bank, it's converted and sent the same way.

Who can move your money

Payments from your balance are authorized by the people on your team, after they sign in with a second factor. Align's servers prepare payments but don't sign them. Within your team, roles decide who can do what: viewers can't pay, and members' payments can need an admin's approval above an amount you set. See team and approvals.

Earn is opt-in. It moves USDC from your wallet into Jupiter Lend on Solana, where it's lent out at a variable rate, up to 8% a year. Money you take out of Earn can only come back to the same wallet. For how lending works and what can go wrong, see where a business can earn yield on USDC, and the risks.

What isn't covered

It's better to know these before you move money than after:

• No deposit insurance. Stablecoin balances aren't bank deposits, so the FDIC, the FSCS and similar schemes don't cover them.
• Issuer risk. A stablecoin is only as good as its issuer's reserves and its ability to redeem. Issuers can also freeze tokens at an address, usually on a law enforcement request. See why USDT and USDC get frozen.
• Earn isn't guaranteed. Lending carries smart contract and market risk, and the rate changes.
• Payments to the wrong place. Stablecoins sent to a wrong address or network usually can't be pulled back. Align blocks payments to addresses that imitate ones you've paid before, but check every new address before you send. See sent USDT or USDC to the wrong network.

How accounts are protected

• Two-factor sign-in for everyone: a passkey, such as Face ID, Touch ID or a hardware key, or an authenticator app. It isn't optional.
• A backup factor for large withdrawals: withdrawing 1,000 or more in USDC, USDT or EURC needs a second enrolled factor.
• Alerts: email when money is sent, when a payout destination or a second factor is added, and when someone's access changes.
• Roles and approvals: viewers can't pay, members' payments can need an admin's approval, admins are emailed when a member adds a recipient, and account numbers are masked for anyone who isn't confirmed to pay. See team and approvals.
• Fraud checks on bills: a supplier's changed bank details must be confirmed by a person before the bill can be paid, a bill that's already paid can't be paid again, emails and supplier names that imitate ones you know are flagged, and payments to a wallet address that imitates one you've paid before are blocked. See bill pay.

Who else is on Align

Every business is reviewed before it can pay or get paid: its documents, everyone who owns 25% or more or controls it, what it does and where its money comes from. People go through identity checks. Align doesn't onboard companies, owners or counterparties in the countries on its prohibited list, or businesses in prohibited activities. You can check whether your company can open an account before you apply.

For your vendor review

The details a supplier questionnaire usually asks for:

Operating company

Align Payments Ltd., 130 Spadina Ave., Unit 807, Toronto, ON M5V 2L4, Canada

Registration

Money services business registered with FINTRAC, no. N300000203 (public registry)

Parent company

Align Labs Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 14583880 (Companies House)

Bank status

Not a bank. Regulated services are provided through licensed financial institutions

Customer checks

KYB for every business and its owners of 25% or more; identity checks for people; AML checks

Balances

Held as USDC and USDT, and euros as EURC, in a wallet per business

Account security

Mandatory two-factor sign-in; a backup factor for withdrawals of 1,000 or more; roles and approvals

Policies

Acceptable use, terms and privacy policy

For anything else your review needs, contact the team. To report a concern about how an account is used, email compliance@alignlabs.dev.