EMI Licence
An EMI licence is the authorisation a regulator grants a firm to operate as an Electronic Money Institution: issuing e-money and providing payment accounts and services. It carries capital, safeguarding, and governance requirements, and in the EU it can be passported across member states.
Holding your own EMI licence replaces renting access through a third-party provider, removing a dependency that can be withdrawn and giving you direct scheme and banking relationships. Authorisation typically takes 6-12 months and meaningful capital, so it is a strategic move for firms at scale, not a quick fix for an account problem.
An Electronic Money Institution is a regulated entity, licensed separately from a bank, authorized to issue e-money and provide payment accounts and services.
A Payment Institution is a firm licensed to provide payment services, such as executing transfers, acquiring transactions, or issuing payment instruments, without issuing e-money.
Safeguarding is the regulatory obligation on EMIs and payment institutions to protect customer funds by holding them separately from the firm’s own money, typically in a segregated account at a credit institution or covered by an insurance arrangement, so customers are repaid if the firm fails.
A capital requirement is the minimum amount of own funds a regulator obliges a licensed payments or e-money firm to hold, sized to its licence type and activity, so it can absorb losses and wind down safely.