In order to open a business that provides services for payment or e-wallets, or use electronic currency, you need an EMI (Electronic Money Institution) license. There are several different kinds of licenses for payment systems, but the EMI license is generally considered the best option available in the Czech Republic. When the license is obtained, the Electronic Money Issuer has all the same capabilities as Payment Institutions do. However, electronic intuitions can issue electronic money, which the major differences between the two providers that applicants need to understand. Electronic money is essentially digital cash. Rather than being stored in a wallet, electronic money is stored on a device or remote server.

If you decided to go through the Czech Republic to apply for your EMI license, you will have the added benefit of it being a European license. Because of this, you will be able to expand your business throughout the world and will not face limitations as to where your customer base can come from. Furthermore, you will have the ability to base your employees wherever is most convenient for you.

If you are interested in obtaining your EMI license through Czech Republic, we provide all the services you need to get it as cheap and efficiently as possible.

Benefits of Payment Institution License in the Czech Republic

Payment Institution License in the Czech Republic

There are a few things that the EMI can do that the Payment Institution cannot. EMI can exchange electronic money for other forms of money, provide financial services with the ability to crush or accumulate funds without any kind of time constraint or known payment directions. It is the issuer’s responsibility to pay money in exchange for electronic money at any time, and even more, opportunities could be provided by obtaining a banking license. In short, the EMI license is for E-Wallets. It gives the person or company the legal right to offer a full range of services relating to E-wallets.

Some people do consider Electronic Money Institutions to be inherently like a bank, but without a banking license, they do not have the legal right to offer bank lending services. However, for those interested in this field but who do not want to deal with the cost of owning and creating a full-fledged bank, a payment company is a great option.

An EMI is, in short, a company that can issue electronic money. They are able to provide all of the services that Payment Institutions can provide in addition to the following: issues electronic money, offer other services regarding electronic money and provide non-electronic services included in their authorization.

Payment Institution License in the Czech Republic

Specificity of Registering Payment Institution License in the Czech Republic

When applying CNB for an EMI license, applicants must also do/have the following:

In the Czech Republic, have at least one head office ;

Have, for the first three reporting periods, both business and financial plans based on a realistic calculation;

Be a legal entity;

Have at last 350,000 EUR in initial capital;

Have sufficient material, technical, organizational, and personnel resources to run an EMI and payment service;

Have a management system that meets the Czech Republic legal requirements;

Have a director that can effectively manage electronic money, that is professionally competent, and that has sufficient experience in the field;

Have the ability to protect any funds received from the issuance of electronic money and any funds received due to payment transactions;

Any other business that the applicant has cannot threaten the applicant’s financial stability or impede on the applicant’s supervision of the company;

Only credible and capable individuals can manage the EMI;

Cannot have close ties or relationships with others that impede on the supervision of the EMI.

Payment Institution License in the Czech Republic

Term and cost
of license registration

On average, the period for obtaining an EMI license in the Czech Republic is about 6 months. As a rule, preparatory procedures take about 3-4 months. The cost of obtaining it depends on many factors and usually starts from 20,000 Euros. The services that we offer regarding creating both a business and financial plan are not included in the main offer and will need to be negotiated separately. Additionally, the cost of translating your plans and other documents into Czech is not a part of our initial cost of services and will need to be negotiated and paid separately after the plan is developed. This is because we cannot know how large these documents will end up being until after they are completed.

Legal system

According to Act number 284/2009 Sb. and directive number 141/2011 Sb. the Czech Republic reserves the right to regulate the activities of all the people and companies that they authorize to provide payment services including this issuance of electronic money.

Payment Institution License in the Czech Republic

Additionally, all their regulations for Electronic Money Institutions comply with all of the EU’s directives and regulations. The CNB or Czech National Bank is responsible for granting permission to operate an EMI. They can give such permission to any Czech legal entity, but neither the founders nor the directors have to be residents of the Czech Republic, which gives you and your company a lot of freedom when it comes to where you want to be based.

Important conditions you need to meet to obtain e-money license in Czech Republic: The business plan that the customer/applicant provides is possible the most important document that has to be submitted to the CNB (Czech National Bank).

In short, whether or not the licensing application goes through is dependent on the business plan that is submitted. It is also important to note that the CNB gives special attention to firms with founders and/or directions that are from CIS countries. If your founders and/or directors are from a CIS country, your business plan is that much more important to your application. It is important to understand that the EMI license that is granted through the Czech National Bank gives the company the capability to legal provide electronic services throughout the EU (European Union.) You will also not deal with any limitations regarding your customer base. You will have to conduct most of your business activity through the EU because that is what the license assumes, so that is where you should focus your business plan. The plan should cover a period of at least three years and include how you are going to attract EU customers.

Payment Institution License in the Czech Republic

Documentation package

To apply for an EMI license in the Czech Republic, you need to provide a large package of documents: a passport, some form of address verification such as a utility bill that has gone through a certified translation, the penalty registrar from where they have citizenship, a certified copy of their birth certificate. In addition, a document proving proper authorization for any commercial activities, a document providing proof of the funds that will be used as share capital and document describing how you plan to implement a variety of different services, and also, documents describing how you plan to implement a variety of different services and how you will staff, organize, and provide technical support for the various services and activities you are offering. Moreover, you need to provide a questionnaire filled out by each manager that includes information about all relevant education and work experience, police clearance from the Czech Republic (we will handle this), proof of origin for the funds that will be contributed as share capital, such as an income certificate and the application for the authorization of an electronic money institution. Share capital must be at least 350,000 Euros. Besides, you shouldn’t forget about the documents outlining how you are going to protect the funds trusted to you during payment transactions and how the EMI will calculate capital adequacy, and also, the penalty registrar certificate in the Czech Republic to the directors and founders and from the countries where the directors and/or founders reside and both a business and a financial plan for the first three years. Finally, a description of your companies management and control system, which should include the proposal of organizational structures, requirements related to the AML warning, and risk management principles and a description of the types, volumes, and methods of other activities and services if the EMI is going to perform any activities outside of the scope of the EMI license.

In order for us to help our clients develop business plans that will help them achieve their licensing, we have business plan templates and financial plan templates that we share with all of our customers after an agreement is signed. Then, once you develop both of your plans, we have a team that will look it over and give you specific feedback based on what we known about what the CNB looks for in said plans. In addition, we provide a range of other services:

Company registration;

Preparation of document and regulation that meat with Czech Republic legislation and CNB requirements;

Support of a translator to aid you through the process and communication;

Full legal services during the process;

We will represent you as power of attorney in all communication with the CNB;

Provide you with templates for your the business and financial plan you must create;

Help adjust the plans that you, the customer, provides.

We, at Private Financial Services have experience in setting up EMI structures all around the world. Our portfolio of licensing includes the following countries: EMI in Czech Republic, EMI in the UK, EMI in Lithuania, EMI in Malta, EMI in Estonia, EMI in Cyprus, EMI in Ireland, MSO in Hong Kong, EMI in Singapore, EMI in UAE.

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