Nikolai Timofejev
15 years in FinTech and payments. Maps your business model to the right licence scope and leads the file all the way to the MAS decision, including banking and payment rails.
Get an e-money license in Singapore.
Asia's benchmark regulator: MAS licenses e-money and payments under the Payment Services Act 2019 - the modern successor to the old SVF regime - with a genuine staircase from Standard to Major Payment Institution. We build the file end to end.
27 yrs
on the international marketon the market
60+
in-house specialistsspecialists
400+
Licenses obtainedlicenses obtained
Updated
Singapore in brief
The staircase Asia's regulators copy.
Singapore regulates e-money through the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Payment Services Act 2019 - the omnibus law that replaced the old Stored Value Facility regime and put seven payment services under one licensing roof: account issuance, domestic and cross-border money transfers, merchant acquisition, e-money issuance, digital payment token services and money-changing. The architecture is a deliberate staircase. A Standard Payment Institution operates below statutory ceilings - S$3 million in monthly payment transactions per service (S$6 million across two or more), and a daily average e-money float of S$5 million. Cross any line and the business needs the Major Payment Institution licence, with statutory safeguarding of customer funds through bank guarantees, trust accounts or equivalent arrangements. MAS keeps its licensing guidelines current - the latest revision landed in October 2025.
Why founders accept MAS's famously demanding review: the licence is Asia's benchmark. Banking partners, schemes and enterprise clients across the region price a Singapore authorisation the way Europeans price the FCA's, and the city pairs it with 17% corporate tax softened by startup exemptions, no capital gains tax, no dividend withholding and ninety-plus treaties. There is no EU-style passport in Asia; what Singapore offers instead is the address every counterparty already trusts. Realistic end-to-end: 9-15 months for an MPI; we run the file from our Singapore office.
MAS licensing under the Payment Services Act 2019: seven services, SPI below S$3M/month (S$5M float), MPI above with statutory safeguarding - guidelines current to Oct 2025.
No Asian passport exists; the MAS brand travels instead. 17% tax, no CGT, no dividend WHT. Asia's benchmark address.
The two routes
Standard - or Major Payment Institution.
One Act, a real staircase: the SPI below the statutory ceilings, the MPI above them with safeguarding. E-money issuance. The old SVF business. Lives in both. We fix the route first, then build once.
MPI without caps - or the SPI below the statutory ceilings.
01 - MAJOR PAYMENT INSTITUTION
MPI licence
The flagship MAS licence: unlimited volumes across the seven payment services, e-money issuance above the S$5 million float line, statutory safeguarding. The authorisation Asia's serious payment businesses hold.
The flagship MAS licence: unlimited volumes across the seven payment services, e-money issuance above the S$5 million float line, statutory safeguarding. The authorisation Asia's serious payment businesses hold.
- ✓All seven PS Act services in scope
- ✓E-money issuance above S$5M float
- ✓Unlimited transaction volumes
- ✓Statutory safeguarding of customer funds
- ✓MAS supervision - Asia's benchmark
- ✓Guidelines current to October 2025
02 - STANDARD PAYMENT INSTITUTION
The statutory staircaseSPI licence
The calibrated entry: the same seven services below the ceilings - S$3 million monthly per service, S$6 million across two or more, S$5 million average float. Lighter obligations, same MAS register.
SPI: S$3M/month per service, S$6M combined, S$5M float; lighter burden; upgrade path.
- ✓Seven services below the ceilings
- ✓S$3M/month per service · S$6M combined
- ✓E-money float ≤ S$5M daily average
- ✓Lighter compliance burden
- ✓Upgrade path to the MPI
- ✓Same MAS register and standing
Costs and timelines are confirmed for your case before any work begins. MAS application fees follow its published schedule; capital, safeguarding and substance costs are itemised in your quote.
Why Singapore
The address Asia already trusts.
No passport exists in Asia. Reputation does the passporting. Singapore's does it better than anywhere.
✓
Asia's benchmark licence
Banks, schemes and enterprise clients across the region treat a MAS authorisation as the gold standard. The diligence MAS did becomes the diligence counterparties skip.The stamp counterparties accept.
✓
A statutory staircase
SPI ceilings are written into the Act - S$3M monthly, S$5M float, so the upgrade to MPI is a planned milestone, not a regulatory surprise.Ceilings in the Act - plannable.
✓
One Act, seven services
Transfers, acquiring, e-money, digital payment tokens and money-changing under a single omnibus law. Hybrid models license once instead of four times.Hybrids license once.
✓
The fintech ecosystem
Asia's deepest fintech cluster: banking partners fluent in payment models, a talent pool built by a decade of licensing, and MAS's own innovation infrastructure.Asia's deepest cluster.
✓
17% with reliefs
Corporate tax at 17% softened by startup exemptions, no capital gains tax, no dividend withholding. Clean economics under a premium licence.No CGT, no dividend WHT.
✓
The ASEAN springboard
Six hundred million consumers next door, cross-border corridors MAS actively builds through payment linkages. Singapore is where regional models headquarters.600M consumers next door.
How it compares
How Singapore differs from other routes.
Singapore trades passport-free Asia for benchmark credibility. The full comparison is below.
Singapore vs other jurisdictions
| Feature |  Singapore | Other jurisdictions |
|---|---|---|
| Regulatory regime | PS Act 2019 - MAS | EMD2/PSD2 or fragmented |
| Regional standing | Asia's benchmark | Varies |
| Staircase | SPI → MPI, statutory | Rare outside the EU |
| Passport | None in Asia - reputation | EU/EEA where applicable |
Regulatory regime
SingaporePS Act 2019 - MAS
Other jurisdictionsEMD2/PSD2 or fragmented
Regional standing
SingaporeAsia's benchmark
Other jurisdictionsVaries
Staircase
SingaporeSPI → MPI, statutory
Other jurisdictionsRare outside the EU
Passport
SingaporeNone in Asia - reputation
Other jurisdictionsEU/EEA where applicable
Country by country
| Country | License type | Taxation | Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore | SPI / MPI (MAS) | 17% · reliefs | Demanding review, benchmark stamp |
 Hong Kong | SVF (HKMA) | 8.25% / 16.5% | HK$25M capital, principal business |
 Lithuania | EMI (Bank of Lithuania) | 17% CIT (2026) | CENTROlink, EU passport |
 United Kingdom | EMI (FCA) | 25% CIT · 19% small | No EU passport post-Brexit |
SingaporeLicense typeSPI / MPI (MAS)
Taxation17% · reliefs
RequirementsDemanding review, benchmark stamp
Hong KongLicense typeSVF (HKMA)
Taxation8.25% / 16.5%
RequirementsHK$25M capital, principal business
LithuaniaLicense typeEMI (Bank of Lithuania)
Taxation17% CIT (2026)
RequirementsCENTROlink, EU passport
United KingdomLicense typeEMI (FCA)
Taxation25% CIT · 19% small
RequirementsNo EU passport post-Brexit
Before you apply
Requirements for the MAS licence.Requirements for the licence.
MAS publishes its licensing guidelines and applies them exactingly. The craft is a file that answers the risk questions before they are asked. The checklist below is what a passing application contains.
01
Singapore entity. A company incorporated in Singapore with a permanent place of business.
02
Base capital - per the class and services, evidenced and maintained; safeguarding arrangements for the MPI.
03
Fit and proper directors and holders. Competence, clean records and ownership transparent to UBOs; at least one executive director resident in Singapore.
04
Programme of operations. Services, volumes and three-year financials MAS can interrogate against the ceilings.
05
Safeguarding. Bank guarantee, trust account or equivalent for MPI customer funds, documented end to end.
06
AML/CFT framework. KYC, monitoring and STRO reporting with a resident compliance function.
07
Technology risk management. MAS's TRM guidelines met, with audit trails and incident procedures.
08
Internal governance. Control functions, outsourcing register and conflicts procedures.
09
Threshold monitoring. Live tracking against SPI ceilings with the MPI upgrade pre-planned.
10
Local substance. An office, resident leadership and operations that survive MAS's supervisory visits.
01
Singapore company, real premises.
02
Base capital per class and services.
03
Resident executive director.
04
Fit & proper holders to UBOs.
05
Interrogable programme of operations.
06
MPI safeguarding, documented.
07
AML with STRO reporting.
08
TRM-grade technology documentation.
09
Threshold monitoring, live.
10
Substance that survives visits.
Reflects the Payment Services Act 2019 and MAS licensing guidelines (updated October 2025) as of 2026.PS Act 2019 + MAS guidelines (Oct 2025), as of 2026.
How it works
From first call to the MAS register.
01
Route and strategy
SPI or MPI, service scope and the float plan. We fix the route, capital and timeline in writing.SPI or MPI; float plan fixed.
02
Singapore company and people
Incorporation, resident executive director and the officers MAS vets.Incorporation, resident director.
03
The application file
Programme, safeguarding, AML and TRM documentation to the guidelines. Complete before filing, because MAS reads everything.Complete. MAS reads everything.
04
MAS review
Question rounds answered precisely - 9-15 months realistic for an MPI; SPIs typically faster.9-15 months MPI; SPI faster.
05
Licence and launch
The register entry, safeguarding live, threshold monitoring running. Asia's benchmark stamp on the door.Register, safeguarding, benchmark stamp.
Quick facts
RegulatorMAS
ClassesMoney-changing · SPI · MPI
SPI ceiling - one serviceS$3M / month
SPI ceiling - two+S$6M / month
E-money float lineS$5M daily average
MPI obligationStatutory safeguarding
Realistic timeline9-15 months MPI
ServicesSeven under one Act
MAS reads every page and asks about the ones you hoped it wouldn't. A file with no such pages is the entire game, and our job.
On the ground in Singapore
Run from our Singapore office.
Prifinance - Singapore
Singapore
Singapore
01
Singapore company formation
Incorporation, resident-director arrangements and the corporate layer MAS expects. Structured for the licence from day one.Incorporation + resident director.
02
The MAS file
Programme of operations, safeguarding design, AML pack and TRM documentation to the current guidelines. Drafted by us and defended through MAS's famously thorough rounds.To the live guidelines, defended.
03
SPI-to-MPI sequencing
Where volumes allow, the SPI first. Operating while the MPI file matures, with threshold monitoring built in from day one.Operate while the MPI matures.
04
Substance and staffing
Resident executive director, compliance function and MLRO from Singapore's deep fintech talent pool. Real substance MAS recognises.Singapore talent, real ops.
We also have offices in
Tallinn
Estonia
Roseni 13
Vilnius
Lithuania
Gedimino pr. 2
Prague
Czech Republic
Vlkova 532/8, Žižkov
London
United Kingdom
7 Bell Yard
Madeira
Portugal
Rua da Alegria 31, 1F
Budapest
Hungary
Korányi Sándor u. 4
Istanbul
Turkey
Perpa Ticaret Merkezi, A Blok
Good to know
Taxation of payment companies in Singapore.
17% headline with startup reliefs, nothing on gains, nothing on dividends. The clean fiscal logic that matches the regulatory brand.
Corporate tax 17%
The headline rate on a payment institution's fee and float income. With partial and startup exemptions carving out the first income tranches.Startup tranches exempted.
Startup reliefs
Qualifying new companies enjoy exemptions on early income tranches. A real runway subsidy in the licence's first years.Gains outside the net.
No capital gains tax
Singapore levies no tax on capital gains. Exits, revaluations and treasury gains fall outside the net entirely.One-tier system.
No dividend withholding
One-tier taxation: corporate profits are taxed once, and dividends flow to shareholders. Local or foreign - without withholding.9% only on ordinary supplies.
GST-exempt financial services
Payment and e-money services are exempt financial services; the 9% GST touches only ordinary supplies.First income tranches carved out.
Treaty network 90+
One of Asia's deepest treaty networks. Group structures above the Singapore entity model cleanly.Asia's deepest network.
Tax summary
Corporate tax17% · reliefs below
Capital gains taxNone
Dividend withholdingNone
GST on payment servicesExempt · standard 9%
Startup exemptionsFirst income tranches
Tax treaties90+
*Figures as of 2026 per IRAS. Relief eligibility and group outcomes are modelled per structure.
Turnkey professional support
Experienced lawyers and international consultants.
We provide end-to-end support, from company registration and the application file to regulatory interaction and compliance oversight - with an individualized approach to each client.
Oleksii Kindratenko
Builds the application itself: Singapore company, AML/KYC policy pack, capital structure and tax registrations. His document sets are the reason reviews finish in months, not years.
Eugeniu Bevziuc
First point of contact for international founders. Runs the whole setup remotely, across time zones and languages - from the first call to a live, licensed institution.
Follow Prifinance
Active across our channels.
Singapore · MAS
Launch your payment project in Singapore with expert support.
Full-service assistance - from incorporation to the MAS licence, safeguarding and ongoing compliance.
Get a consultation →Free legal opinion
Is Singapore the right fit for your project?
Our legal team will analyze your case at no cost and provide a written legal opinion: which jurisdiction, licence scope, or route fits your business.
Written assessment within 2-5 business days
Request a free conclusion →FAQ
The Singapore e-money licence: the practical answers.
What licence does an e-money business need in Singapore?+
A Payment Services Act licence from MAS - Standard Payment Institution below the statutory ceilings, Major Payment Institution above them. E-money issuance (the old SVF business) is one of the seven services the Act covers.
What happened to the SVF licence?+
The Payment Services Act 2019 absorbed the old Stored Value Facility regime - e-money issuance is now a licensed service under the omnibus Act, alongside transfers, acquiring and digital payment tokens. Same business, modern framework.
Where exactly do the SPI ceilings sit?+
S$3 million in monthly payment transactions for one service, S$6 million across two or more, and a daily average e-money float of S$5 million. Cross any line and the MPI licence with statutory safeguarding applies - we build the monitoring in from day one.
How long does licensing take?+
MAS reviews exactingly: realistically 9-15 months for an MPI, with SPIs typically faster. The file must answer the risk questions before they are asked - that is our job.
What substance is expected?+
A Singapore-incorporated company with a permanent place of business, at least one resident executive director, a resident compliance function, MAS-grade technology risk management and safeguarding arrangements that survive inspection.
How are payment companies taxed?+
17% corporate tax with startup exemptions, no capital gains tax, no dividend withholding and GST-exempt payment services - one of the cleanest fiscal stacks attached to any premium licence.
Is there a passport like the EU's?+
No - Asia has no passporting. What travels instead is the MAS brand: counterparties across the region accept Singapore diligence as their own. For EU coverage, groups pair the MAS licence with an EU EMI; we build both.
Can digital-asset models use the same licence?+
Yes - digital payment token services sit inside the same Act, so hybrid crypto-payment models license once under one regulator. MAS's DPT scrutiny is intense; the file must be built for it.
What are the current guidelines?+
MAS keeps its licensing guidelines for payment service providers current - the latest revision dates to October 2025. We build against the live version, not last year's folklore.
Why Singapore rather than Hong Kong?+
Hong Kong's SVF licence serves Greater China flows at HK$25M capital; Singapore's PS Act serves ASEAN and global models with a statutory staircase. Many regional groups eventually hold both - we sequence the pair.
What licence is needed?+
MAS SPI or MPI under the PS Act.
The old SVF?+
Absorbed into the Act - e-money service.
SPI ceilings?+
S$3M/mo; S$6M two+; S$5M float.
How long?+
9-15 months MPI; SPI faster.
Substance?+
Resident director, real premises.
Taxes?+
17% with reliefs; no CGT/WHT.
Passport?+
None in Asia - the brand travels.
Crypto too?+
DPT services - same Act, same file.
Guidelines?+
Current to October 2025.
Vs Hong Kong?+
ASEAN here; Greater China there.
Client notes
Google4.7★★★★★
Founders who wanted it done right.
Google4.7★★★★★
“As a software development crew at FewMoreTaps OÜ, we've had the pleasure of working with Prifinance on some key financial moves.First of all, navigating the world of corporate banking and finance can be a maze, but Prifinance made it feel like a walk in the park. They helped us set up a corporate bank account without the hassle of jumping on a plane or drowning in paperwork. Everything was done remotely, smoothly…”
Google
“I had their assistance in company registration and I would recommend them. They were answering all my clarification during the process and offering all their supportThank you Daniel and Irinia”
Google
“We found PRIFINANCE COMPANYvia the Internet and asked for help in organizing the opening of their company in Estonia. PRIFINANCE COMPANY specialists helped us a lot with this. Their professional, competent approach and knowledge of their business left us with only the best impressions.”
Google
“I'm thrilled with my experience with PriFinance! They helped me obtain a crypto license in Estonia without any hassle. The team was super understanding and always available to answer my questions and assist. It was great to see how they put effort into preparing the documents to ensure everything went smoothly. I'm delighted with the outcome and highly recommend PriFinance to anyone looking to get a license…”
Google
“Opening an account with Prifinance in a Swiss bank was such an easy and quick process that I was shocked. It all started with the first call, where I received detailed guidance on the required documents and the entire procedure.One of the key highlights was their attention to detail. As someone who usually gets tangled up in paperwork, I was pleasantly surprised when they sent me all the documents and…”
Google
“I recently had the pleasure of working with Boris.. and I must say, it was a fantastic experience. Boris went above and beyond to assist me with my residency needs. His professionalism, knowledge, and dedication truly stood out. I highly recommend working with Boris and the team!”
Google
Start today
One message away from your Singapore licence.
Get a free legal opinion on your project - our legal team will analyze your case at no cost and provide a written legal opinion: which jurisdiction, licence scope, or route fits your business.Free legal opinion: which Singapore route fits your project and what it will cost.
✓Written legal opinion within 2-5 business days - free of charge✓A clear recommendation on the right licence scope, not a sales pitch✓Transparent fixed fees, confirmed up front✓EN · RU · ES speaking team
Prifinance is an independent law and advisory firm. We are not a regulator and are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) or any other public authority. Authorisations are granted by, and obtained directly from, the competent authorities.