E-money and payments · FINMA
Swiss payment and fintech licensing (FINMA)
Switzerland sits outside the EU payments framework, so it is not a route into Europe. What it offers instead is the Swiss financial brand, a currency and banking system that counterparties trust instinctively, and a regime that includes a dedicated fintech authorisation for firms accepting public deposits below the banking threshold.
The regulator
FINMA is a principles-led supervisor with a strong preference for firms that can explain their own risks rather than recite requirements. Anti-money-laundering supervision for many payment businesses runs through a recognised self-regulatory organisation, which is a genuinely different architecture from the EU model.
What the licence permits
Regulated under the FINMA
- Accept public funds within the parameters of the fintech authorisation
- Provide payment and money transmission services from a Swiss base
- Operate under Swiss banking-adjacent supervision and reputation
- Serve international clients without EU passporting constraints
Who it suits
Firms selling to a client base that values Swiss standing above European market access, and groups pairing a Swiss entity with a separate EEA licence.
Market access
Access to the Swiss market and international clients. There is no EEA passport, so European customers need a separate EU authorisation.
What to weigh
Cost of substance in Switzerland is high and the regime is genuinely distinct from PSD2, so experience of EU applications does not transfer cleanly. Choose it for what it is, not as a cheaper European alternative.
We run the Switzerland application end to end
Whether you build from new or acquire an existing licensed entity, BrokLicense handles incorporation, the regulator application, the AML and compliance framework, safeguarding and banking arrangements, and the operating stack. You stay the principal. We do the work, in confidence, and stay on for compliance once you are live.
Cost, capital, and timelines depend on your model and are set out in a first consultation, under NDA, not published here.
Other permissions in Switzerland
Related reading
- EMI vs Payment Institution: Which Licence Does Your Payments Business Actually Need?An e-money licence and a payment institution licence look interchangeable and are not. One lets you hold stored value, the other only moves it. Here is the line.
- How to Get an EMI Licence: What Electronic Money Authorisation Actually InvolvesAn EMI application is a business case, not a form. Here is what regulators examine, in what order, and where applications realistically stall.
- Where to Base an EMI: Choosing a Jurisdiction for an E-Money LicenceEvery EEA e-money licence passports to the same thirty markets, so the choice is not about reach. It is about the regulator, the banking, and the substance you can staff.
- Safeguarding: The Requirement That Decides Whether Your EMI Survives SupervisionSafeguarding is the single obligation supervisors test hardest at payments firms, and the one most often got wrong. Here is what compliant actually looks like.
E-money and payments in other Europe jurisdictions
- United KingdomFCA
- ItalyBanca d'Italia
- GermanyBaFin
- SpainBanco de España
- AustriaFMA
- IrelandCentral Bank of Ireland
Discuss your mandate in confidence
Every engagement begins under a mutual NDA. Set out the firm you intend to operate and the timeline you are working to, and you leave the first consultation with a recommended jurisdiction, the route to the licence, and a defined scope of work.
Prefer email? info@broklicense.com