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Payment institutions, acquirers, processors and open banking providers. Licensing, banking and compliance for firms that execute, acquire and initiate payments.
Selected engagements from more than 250 licences obtained since 2013, for payment, e-money and cryptoasset firms.
Volkswagen
Payment InstitutionObtained Oval’s FCA Authorised Payment Institution licence with open banking permissions.
Electronic Money InstitutionObtained Own Solutions’ Central Bank of Ireland Electronic Money Institution licence.
Payment InstitutionObtained Nexpay’s FCA Authorised Payment Institution licence.
We obtain the authorisations, open the settlement accounts and build the compliance frameworks for payment institutions, acquirers, processors and open banking providers, in the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the United Kingdom.
Payment institution licences and registrations in every market we cover, including open banking permissions.
Settlement and operating accounts in the currencies you pay out.
Scheme membership, BIN sponsorship and processor relationships.
Reporting, safeguarding and financial crime after authorisation.
A business that moves money without holding customer balances licenses as a payment institution or its local equivalent: state money transmitter licences with FinCEN registration in the United States, one passporting licence for the EU, the local licence in Singapore, Hong Kong and the UAE, and an authorised or small payment institution in the United Kingdom. The choice turns on where your customers are, the services you run and your monthly volumes.
The licence follows your customers and your services. Capital, timing and what you may offer differ by market, so we set the order before the first filing.
FinCEN registration within 180 days of starting, at no fee, then a money transmitter licence in each state that requires one. Net worth and surety bonds start at US$100,000, and bonds reach at least US$500,000 in New York. The multistate review coordinates 32 states.
A payment institution licence passports across the EU and EEA, most often from Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands or Malta, with €20,000 to €125,000 of capital set by the highest service offered.
Singapore issues standard and major payment institution licences, with S$100,000 and S$250,000 of base capital. Hong Kong licenses remittance as a money service operator. The UAE licenses payment services onshore in four categories, from AED 100,000 to AED 3 million.
An authorised payment institution holds €20,000 to €125,000. A small payment institution registers for £1,130 with no capital and up to €3 million a month, the route we took for Onpoint Money.
In Switzerland a payment business that holds no deposits joins a self-regulatory organisation. Canada and Australia register payment firms in about three months each.
Safeguarding, settlement and acquiring for new and established firms, arranged through our direct relationships with banks, e-money institutions and payment providers.
Accounts ready for the first payment on the day the licence is granted for new firms. For licensed firms, new currencies, a second bank or a replacement for a bank that has withdrawn.
A safeguarding account that keeps customer money apart, an operating account and settlement accounts in every currency you pay out. See banking and payment processing.
A place on the card schemes, as a member or sponsored, and a processor, with pricing, reserves and settlement cycles agreed. Higher-risk merchants, including gaming, forex and cryptoassets, go through the same relationships.
Accounts with US banks that accept money services businesses, with permissible investments (safe assets at least equal to the money owed to customers) held at all times.
Payment initiation and account information firms hold professional indemnity insurance as a condition of authorisation, which we arrange.
Supervision starts the day the licence is granted. One in-house team runs it, with your local team in place where the regulator expects people on the ground.
State examinations, annual reports and renewals through NMLS (the national licensing system), an independent review of the anti-money laundering programme, and FinCEN renewal every two years.
Reporting to the home regulator and notice to each new country before passporting into it.
An effectiveness review in Canada at least every two years, and an independent evaluation in Australia at least every three.
The FCA’s client-assets standard since 7 May 2026: daily reconciliation, a resolution pack, a monthly safeguarding return and an annual audit. Capital is recalculated as volumes grow, and agents are registered before they act.
The MLRO, compliance monitoring, transaction monitoring, regulatory returns and the safeguarding audit file. See regulatory compliance and financial crime.
Bespoke white-label technology for payment businesses: customer accounts, collections and payouts on local and cross-border rails, virtual IBANs and card programmes, built to your flow of funds and your licence.
Customer checks, sanctions screening and transaction monitoring are specified from the first design, so policy and system match when the regulator reviews them.
Daily reconciliation runs on Safeheld, our safeguarding platform, and produces the records the monthly return, the resolution pack and the annual audit draw on.
A payment product goes live in as little as one month under a licensed partner’s programme, then migrates to your own licence. See BaaS and programmes.
A new firm goes live on technology, licence and banking on the same date. A licensed firm adds services, currencies and markets on the same platform, or moves onto it from one it has outgrown.
An authorised payment institution brings its permissions, banking and trading record in one transaction. It suits a buyer that needs a market quickly, or a permission set that takes longest to build.
Every regulator approves the new owner first. Each US licensing state approves the change of control. In the UK, the FCA has 60 working days from a complete notice, with approval at each threshold of 10%, 20%, 30% and 50%. EU regulators run a comparable assessment.
Three weeks on the target, with the findings priced into the deal.
A multistate US footprint, or an EU licence with open banking permissions already granted.
Our marketplace lists payment institutions and money services businesses, each checked against its regulator’s public register. We prepare the change of control application and align completion with the approval.
A money transmitter licence in each state that requires one, plus FinCEN registration as a money services business. FinCEN registration is a free federal filing due within 180 days of starting and gives no right to operate. State licences carry net worth from US$100,000 and surety bonds from US$100,000, rising to at least US$500,000 in New York.
Yes. A payment institution licensed in one EU state passports, by notice to its regulator, across the EU and EEA. Capital is €20,000 to €125,000 by service in every state, so the choice of base turns on fees, timing and the substance each regulator expects. A UK licence no longer passports into the EU.
Acquiring card transactions for merchants is a payment service. In the EU and the UK it needs an authorised payment institution licence with €125,000 of initial capital, or, in the UK, a small payment institution registration within the €3 million monthly limit. We arrange card scheme membership or sponsorship and a processor, for a new acquirer or one adding schemes or regions.
Payment initiation needs authorisation as a payment institution with €50,000 of initial capital. A firm offering account information only needs no initial capital. Both hold professional indemnity insurance. In the UK, a small payment institution may not provide either service, so open banking firms apply for authorisation from the outset.
An authorised payment institution has no volume limit, holds €20,000 to €125,000 of capital and may offer open banking services. A small payment institution registers for £1,130 with no capital, handles up to €3 million a month on average, serves the UK only and may not offer payment initiation or account information.
We plan for six to eight months after submission in the UK, Ireland and for a US multistate programme; the FCA's published median is 219 days. Lithuania runs four to six months, Singapore twelve to fifteen, Hong Kong two to three, and Canada and Australia about three months.
The licence, the banking and the timing for your business.