Yes your money is protected under safeguarding rules!
Kestrl is not a bank and so is not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Instead your money is "safeguarded" by our Electronic Money (e-money) partner firm AF Payments (authorised by the UK regulator under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (FRN: 900440).
Safeguarding is a set of laws that governs how an e-money firm must protect customer funds. The key difference is that whilst FSCS protects up to £120,000 of your deposits in the event of a Bank's closure, under safeguarding rules ALL of your funds must be ring fenced and sent back to the customer if Kestrl closes.
For more information please see this detailed blog post illustrating the differences.