Get an EMI license in the UK.

FCA authorisation as an electronic money institution under the EMRs 2011 - €350,000 initial capital and the full application file - or small-EMI registration for models averaging under €5 million in outstanding e-money.

An electronic money institution issues e-money and can provide payment services alongside it; a payment institution provides payment services - remittance, acquiring, payment accounts, payment initiation - but cannot issue e-money. An authorised EMI needs €350,000 initial capital, an authorised payment institution €20,000, €50,000 or €125,000 depending on its services. Both are supervised by the FCA, under the EMRs 2011 and the PSRs 2017 respectively.

The statutory clock is three months from a complete application, and twelve from an incomplete one. Realistic end-to-end timelines run 6-12 months; the file's completeness decides which clock you are on.

The FCA's PS25/12 (7 August 2025) rebuilt the regime: interim (supplementary) rules in force from 7 May 2026 strengthen records, reconciliation and reporting, with a full CASS-style end-state to follow. Every UK payments firm must implement it - new applicants build it in from day one.

No - passporting ended with Brexit. A UK EMI serves the UK; EU operations need an EU licence. The standard architecture is UK + Lithuania in parallel, and our London and Vilnius offices run exactly that pairing.

A UK company with mind-and-management in the UK: approved persons and an interviewable MLRO, real safeguarding operations, and systems that meet the FCA's resilience expectations.

Launching under the €5M average-outstanding threshold with a lighter registration - proving the model in the UK market, then upgrading to full authorisation with a track record. UK-only, like the full licence.

SPI is the small payment institution: an FCA registration rather than a full authorisation, open while payment transactions average no more than €3 million a month over 12 months, agents' transactions included. An SPI cannot provide account information or payment initiation services, and like every UK licence since Brexit it carries no EU passport. Above the threshold, or for AIS and PIS, the route is an authorised payment institution.

A business whose only payment service is account information registers with the FCA as a registered account information service provider (RAISP) instead of seeking full authorisation; in place of initial capital it needs professional indemnity insurance or a comparable guarantee. Payment initiation is different: it needs an authorised payment institution with €50,000 initial capital and the same indemnity cover, or an authorised EMI.

An EMD agent acts for an e-money institution: it may provide payment services and distribute or redeem e-money on the EMI's behalf, but it cannot issue e-money. The EMI registers the agent with the FCA through Connect before the agent starts, checks that its managers are fit and proper, and remains responsible for what it does. Agents of payment institutions are registered the same way, as PSD agents.

Corporation tax at 25% (19% small profits), VAT-exempt payment services, the merged R&D scheme for platform development, and 130+ treaties. Partial exemption is planned upfront.

Through the UK's agency-banking market and direct scheme routes - Faster Payments access for non-banks is an established path. The rails plan is part of our build, not an afterthought.

Groups whose customers are in the UK - consumer fintech, SME payments, corporate treasury, and global groups that want the FCA's stamp as their flagship. If your market is the EU, start in Vilnius; if it is both, run both.

Because we hold the pairing: our own offices in London and Vilnius, files on both desks, and the safeguarding architecture the 2026 rules demand - built once, correctly, from 7 Bell Yard.

Three lines: the FCA application fee (£5,640 for an authorised EMI, pricing category 5; £1,130 for a small EMI, category 3), €350,000 initial capital held on the balance sheet, and the file - business plan, safeguarding and wind-down arrangements, policies, UK directors and office. The first year of compliance staffing belongs in the same budget.

Licensed UK EMIs do change hands, and we act for buyers and sellers. The FCA treats a change in control as a fresh assessment of the new owners, re-tests safeguarding and the wind-down plan, and the price reflects the licence's permission set rather than your plans. Buy the licence that matches your service list, or apply for it.

Incorporate a UK company with UK-based directors and an office, then build the application the FCA assesses: business plan and programme of operations, safeguarding and wind-down arrangements, governance, AML/CTF framework, IT and security policies, financial projections and fit-and-proper individuals. The FCA must decide a complete application within three months and an incomplete one within twelve; realistic end to end is 6-12 months, and since 7 May 2026 the safeguarding section must already follow PS25/12.