Who?
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No, it doesnāt just cover banks. It can also cover others such as building societies, credit unions, insurance companies, etc. However any company does need to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, so passported firms regulated by other national bodies could not be covered by the FSCS. However, unless they chose to change their business model from an EMI the cover would not be available.
The FSCS protects the following:
ā¢ deposits,
ā¢ investment business,
ā¢ home finance (for business from 31 October 2004),
ā¢ insurance policies, and
ā¢ insurance broking for business from 14 January 2005. They also protect connected travel insurance where companies such as travel firms and holiday providers sell the policy alongside a holiday or other related travel for business from 1 January 2009.
However, bullion or precious metals do not seem to be covered.
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Aha I was just about to post this screenshot but you already wrote it.
Anyway, I used the word āmayā because I would imagine that Glint may qualify under the āinvestmentā criteria given gold is an investment.
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The FSCS website is also a bit vague as while they mention insurance they do not clarify if assurance, reinsurance, retrocession, etc are also covered.
Card top ups are live 
Surpisingly the logo is correct, which indicates there are quite a few other users also using Glint Payā¦
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Multi-currency wallet is becoming a reality 
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Glint Pay raising Ā£1,250,000 investment on Crowdcube. Capital At Risk.
https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/glint-pay/pitches/lRYM1q
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Forget Glint. They are on fractional reserve.
If you want invest in gold, buy physical gold. Even better, move away from this relic. Invest in digital assets. Do you see youngsters investing in gold? Nope. It is old-timersā fetish, only popular in less advanced economies. No future.
You are buying physical gold with Glint, its your sole property.
And Gold has been a store of value for many generations.
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Is there any protection for Glint if the app or bank folds?
From their website:
_All the physical gold held by our clients is 100% secured from default. Glintās gold current account enables clients to own fractions of a bar of physical gold, held in an independent vault in Zurich, which is allocated and legally owned by them. _
Client monies held in their domestic or foreign currency accounts at Lloyds could potentially be exposed in the event of default by the bank, albeit Lloyds makes a 100% liquidity provision for these funds on a daily basis. Our business model enables clients to move funds into physical gold swiftly and seamlessly where they would be guaranteed protected.
This guy isnāt very happy with Glint though https://www.scribd.com/document/365513333/Glint-Pay-Thoughts-and-Warning-By-Roy-Sebag
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āThis guyā just so happens to be the founding member of a competitor 
In any case, here is Glintās official response:
https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/glint-pay/pitches/lRYM1q/updates/by2LYq
Thanks.
I think the point about Glint having to have cash in reserve equivalent to clientās gold holding is valid.
The Glint price of gold was more than the spot price at the time I bought my Ā£10 worth. Do you know if the Glint price includes their .5%?
I had a dabble with Zopa and that worked fine but Iām probably not in a stage of my life to risk too much.
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No worries. To be fair, I did see that article a while ago and it was a concern for me. Iām just happy the crowdfunding process nudged Glint to address it directly so that potential customers/investors can make informed decisions.
Iām not entirely sure but from the looks of it, I think their fee is impounded in the price:
Got my card at the weekend.
Just sent Ā£10 to my Glint account. Very curious to see how it works out.
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It took about an hour for it to show up in Glint. I then bought .33g of Gold. Currently my Ā£10 is worth Ā£9.92. So it works well. I am just not convinced about Gold as a store of wealth in my circumstances (nearly retired)
Its not a store of wealth, its insurance when everything else goes pear shaped.
Indeed, but if it really goes pear shaped, I suspect having an electronic balance on a card with the gold stored in Zurich will not be of much use!
Edit to add: gold is in fact a reasonable store of wealth - an ounce bought you a nice toga in Roman times and will buy you a reasonable suit now 
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Gold as an asset has a major advantage of allowing physical gold holders to store their wealth independently of the banking system.
Signing up with Glint and holding digital gold takes this advantage away and is counterintuitive to the real purpose of gold bullion and bars.
Even during gold reserve period, the UK was run on a fractional reserve system where cash was only backed up 20% with gold reserves. Does anyone believe that Glint holds more than that in reserves in their Swiss vaults under the Alps?
It is all fine until there is a run on an instiution and everyone wants to take their gold out at once. People would quickly find out that there might not be enough of gold for everybody.