I funded my account with £600,000 manually with a CHAPS payment yesterday, including the correct reference.
This has not been credited to my GIA account, and I’m sent in circles with the support chat.
I funded this account in order to purchase shares which go ex-dividend in 24 hours, in order to gain the dividend. I may now miss this deadline. It’s infuriating not being able to get in touch with anyone who can actually help.
Whoa. That’s worrying. If you believe you’re at a loss because of this then record the price you think you would have purchased the shares, then make a formal complaint asking them to put you back in a position you would have been had the funds been available in your account on the agreed time, and you purchased the shares, received the dividends, and then exited the time you wanted to. In all honesty, based on the delays around transfers etc, I would have gone to II, AJ, or HL for £600k at the moment.
Which shares were you hoping to purchase before the ex-dividend date?
I’ve had a FT account for several years, and not had a problem. But I also haven’t transferred such a large amount, as I just sold my flat and these are the proceeds.
The stock is PHNX
Yup, it’s been better at FT previously but they seem super busy based on the chatter around transfers.
Plus, it’s the end of year tax season, so all the extra support queries around ISA/SIPP.
Plus, I suspect the team at FT may also be busy with IG’s imminent takeover.
I truly hope your funds land soon. All the best.
If it makes you feel better the share price will drop by the value of the dividend (all other things being equal) - so you won’t ‘lose’ anything.
This is technically true, but my financial plans rely on a dividend as part of my overall strategy.
sometimes larger or unusual transfers can get held up due to security checks.
happened to me.
worth checking with bank as well if you havent already done so.
£600k? I get anxious at transferring £600. Taking stamp duty, dividend tax, buy/sell spread + share volatility into account it’s certainly an interesting strategy 
If the money got to your account but you hadn’t bought the shares and Freetrade went bust you would only get 80k back. Slim chance of happening but enough of a risk to stop me doing it.
That’s just not true. 80k would be covered by the government scheme but you would most likely get your money back in full.
Technically cash is only covered up to £85k, so it’s not inaccurate but client funds should be held separately so the risk is minimal.
That’s nonsense.
Money is held in ring fenced accounts.
Also highly unlikely as FT is now part of IG Group which is a multi £bn listed company.
Minimal risk agreed as I mentioned. It’s an old article but still gives some good historic context.
Hi @jasonfj - the team has reached out to you directly requesting more information about the deposit. Thank you!
The answer was that the funds were being held up awaiting confirmation of source. However I did not receive any communication about this for two days, despite engaging in several chats with agents who just said ‘our team are dealing with this. Is there anything else I can help you with?’
I ended up missing the ex-dividend date for the stock I wished to purchase.
Buying a single stock with 600k is incredibly reckless. CHAPS payments take 3-5 days to clear.
Depends on the size of a portfolio. Impossible to say this without knowing.
CHAPS payments clear the same day. It’s literally why they exist.
CHAPS payments should clear same day. The delay was their security requirements, which were not revealed to me until two days later.
Tbf Freetrade didnt ‘lose’ your money it was held up by beaurocratic KYC stuff which for a transfer of this size isnt really suprising but at least its sorted now
Their lack of communication for two days was the problem. I got no clarity as to what was happening.