What would you like to know?

Search icon

Applying to an offer

Why am I being asked to upload evidence of my existing shareholding?

Allocation decisions are made by the Company raising funds and they may choose to give priority to existing shareholders over new investors.

If you are an existing shareholder, we ask that you upload and submit evidence of your shareholding to us so that we can support you in getting the best possible allocation in share offers.

Any evidence shared with us will be held in accordance with our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Notice.

What constitutes evidence of shareholding?

Evidence of your shareholding in a Company could be screenshots of your brokerage account, a photo of your share certificate or a copy of your contract note. You may send us multiple images. The best evidence will show your name, the Company’s name, the number of securities held and the date.

Where possible, please redact any account information not linked to your shareholding in the Company when sending us your evidence (for example, information concerning your overall portfolio value or your shareholdings in other companies).

If you have any questions, please contact us here.

What is the deadline for uploading evidence of my existing shareholding?

Your evidence must be received by us by the time the offer closes. Your application will still be considered even if you have not submitted shareholding evidence by this time and the Company may take this into account during the allocation process.

Will I be notified when an offer goes live?

Once you have signed up for an account and we have completed our onboarding checks, you will be sent emails, and/or notifications from the PrimaryBid app, to notify you of new offers. In the PrimaryBid app, please ensure that you have your notifications turned on to be promptly notified about our offers.

How do I apply for shares or bonds?

You can apply for shares or bonds in an offer via the PrimaryBid app or online using a debit card.

Our payment provider is Worldpay, and all transactions will appear on your bank statement as PRIMARYBID. Once you have completed the transaction, you will receive an email from PrimaryBid confirming your payment. If you do not complete the payment for any reason, you will need to restart the application. Neither PrimaryBid nor Worldpay store your payment details and if a payment is unsuccessful you will not be charged.

If you do not receive an application confirmation email from PrimaryBid, your application is unconfirmed, and you will not receive an allocation.

Why has my payment been declined?

The most common reasons for an unsuccessful payment are:

  • The address on your PrimaryBid account is different to the one which your debit card is registered to with your bank.
  • Attempting to pay with a credit card – we only accept debit cards.
  • The payment has been declined by your bank. We advise you to notify your bank of the transaction before attempting it, especially if you are applying for a large amount.
  • Insufficient funds in your debit card account.

For all declined payments, we suggest you contact your bank first. If you are still experiencing payment issues, please contact our customer service team via this contact form.

Can I pay with funds located in my broker's account?

No, we only accept payments via debit card on our platform but if your broker is already working with PrimaryBid, you may be able to apply for an offer by placing your application directly through your broker. Please contact your broker to ask them if they are able to place an application on your behalf.

How long do PrimaryBid offers last?

Our offers can last weeks or hours and may close early.The length of the offer is determined by the Company raising capital and is generally open for the same amount of time as the institutional offer. If you have not completed your application successfully by the time of closing, you will not receive an allocation of shares or bonds.

As our offers can be time sensitive, we recommend turning on app notifications, to be promptly notified about our offers.

Why can’t you extend the length of time the offer is open for?

PrimaryBid offers individual investors access to stock market transactions on the same terms as institutional investors. This means that when the lead broker on an offer decides to close the institutional book, PrimaryBid is obliged to close the offer on our platform at the same time. On some occasions we may have to close earlier than the institutional book if, for example, the PrimaryBid offer is heavily oversubscribed.

How can I find the offer that I’d like to apply for?

You can view live offers on the PrimaryBid app or online. Due to US security laws, you will need to read and accept the disclaimer for an offer before being able to view the full details, including the company name and ticker.

Where can I view the offer details and documents?

You can view details of live offers via the 'Offers' page on the PrimaryBid app or online. Please read all details on this page thoroughly before applying to any offer.

Why can’t I apply for an offer when I am abroad?

Legal and regulatory restrictions in jurisdictions outside the UK relating to offers of shares or bonds mean that we have to restrict our offers such that they are available only to UK residents whilst they are physically present in the UK. This means that even if you are a UK resident, but are abroad for a short period, we’re not able to facilitate an application. This is consistent with offers of shares or bonds generally made in the UK.

I’m experiencing technical difficulties. What should I do?

In the first instance, we’d suggest reloading the app. If the issue should persist, please get in touch with our customer service team who will be able to look into this further. You can contact us via the contact form here. Please provide as much detail as possible, including the make and model of the device you are using and any screenshots if possible.

How do I get back to the payment page to complete my application?

If you left the payment page before completing your application, you cannot reload the page and must restart the application in the PrimaryBid app or online.

Why is the amount I am asked to pay slightly different to the amount I wanted to apply for?

When you enter your application amount to participate in a PrimaryBid offer, we calculate and display the nearest whole number of shares or bonds this would buy at the placing price where known. When you choose to proceed to payment, we calculate the actual amount to be paid by multiplying the number of shares or bonds with the placing price.

For example, XYZ plc is issuing shares at 13p per share. An investor chooses to apply for £5,000. This equals 38,461 shares at a total price of £4,999.93.

Still need help?