Obtaining Payment License in Poland

If you plan to open your fintech business in a European country with favorable legislation, you may need to register a payment license in Poland.

For this simple reason, many choose Poland to establish their companies. Moreover, obtaining a payment license in Poland means gaining opportunities to scale your enterprise across the entire EU27 region and even beyond its borders.

However, obtaining the license won’t be effortless. A flawless reputation, reliable partners, knowledge of the region’s operating rules, and assistance from accredited lawyers from Lawrange are essential.

Next, you will learn all about how to obtain payment licenses in Poland, as well as their types and conditions.

What are EMI, API, and SPI Payment Licenses?

A payment system license is permission to conduct financial activities with digital currency in the region. Moreover, depending on its type, your operations can have completely different characteristics.

For example, with a basic license, you will only operate transactions, meaning you will accept and send user funds, while with an extended license, you can even store electronic finances and provide your own cards to clients.

That’s why obtaining a payment license is so important, so you need to be responsible for deciding what type of permission you want to obtain to launch your own service.

Types of Licenses and Their Differences

Legal services for obtaining a license from Lawrange include consulting on the types of permissions you can apply for as the founder of a company or startup.

There are three types of licenses in total:

Each defines the framework within which a fintech enterprise can operate. Therefore, registering a payment license should be done thoughtfully, considering the company’s future scaling.

Moreover, even if you decide to start with the basics, you can always expand the permission and obtain several types of licenses at once to provide comprehensive services to users.

Before registering a license, familiarize yourself with the detailed description of each of them.

EMI

An Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license in Poland allows for conducting digital transactions between counterparties and more. Key capabilities of EMI include:

Issuing E-money.
Offline or online payments.
Sub-accounts within a bank account, paving the way for creating electronic wallets and individual IBANs.
Currency exchange services from cash to the company’s electronic currency;
Providing account information.
Processing transfers from payment cards.
Payment for goods and executing transfers accompanied by debiting funds from a credit account.

This is why obtaining an EMI license is beneficial for entrepreneurs.

API

An Application Programming Interface (API) license for a payment system allows the entrepreneur to act as an intermediary between the user and the bank, speeding up transaction processing. Our legal services cover this type of permission and help you obtain accreditation from the regulator. In other words, simply get an API license.

This permission opens up a range of opportunities for business, such as:

Topping up user accounts in other systems.
Withdrawing funds from the accounts of individuals or legal entities.
Facilitating payment transactions between client accounts.
Conducting transactions with client credit line coverage.
Creating your own payment instruments or attracting third parties.

With our assistance, your registration of a payment license in Poland will be quick and successful.

SPI

A Small Payment Institution (SPI) license is a simplified permit to operate a service. For instance, you can get a payment license in Poland and obtain an SPI license faster than API or EMI.

However, the capabilities of such permission are more modest compared to other licenses, for example:

Placing cash on a payment account and all operations necessary for working with the payment account.
Withdrawing cash from the payment account and other operations necessary for working with the payment account.
Conducting transactions, including transferring funds to the user’s payment account or another payment system.
Performing transactions using a payment card or similar device.
Executing payments where funds are provided by the user’s payment service credit line.
Performing credit transfers, including standing orders.
Issuing payment instruments or acquiring payment transactions.

If you plan to register a license (specifically SPI), keep in mind that to scale your operations to other regions, you will need to obtain permissions from their regulators as well.

Advantages of Obtaining a Payment License in Poland

Acquiring a license is an opportunity to quickly and seamlessly enter the EU27 market, gaining a number of significant advantages, such as:

Favorability towards services aimed at clients from Eastern Europe.
Inexpensive yet high-quality human resources, i.e., potential business employees.
Ease of opening a business account in Polish banks without significant restrictions.
Simple process of obtaining a residence permit for executives and employees (which is a mandatory condition to obtain payment licenses in Poland).
Access to the national currency, as well as other fiat funds and their equivalents traded on the target market.
Virtually unlimited opportunities to attract capital from the country’s population and immigrants temporarily or permanently residing in Poland.

And this is far from an exhaustive list of benefits.

Legislation and Regulation

Registering a payment license is perhaps the most pleasant part of the entire process of launching a fintech business in the country. This is because all that’s needed for commerce is permission from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority.

Of course, you’ll also need to undergo an independent audit, gather a set of documents, prepare capital, responsible persons, and a bank account, and only then register the payment license.

And to smoothly navigate all the steps towards opening your own fintech business in the country, you will likely need legal services to obtain the license from Lawrange.

Conditions for Obtaining a License in Poland

Although it may seem that obtaining a payment system license is very simple, there are still quite stringent requirements. Without meeting them, you won’t be able to engage in activities related to finance and digital transactions.

The main requirements for those wishing to obtain a payment license in Poland include:

Timely company establishment.
Presence of statutory capital.
Local management.
Business plan availability.
Well-thought-out compliance system.
Approved technical infrastructure.
Application of PSD2 rules and norms.

By meeting these conditions, you can obtain the licenses. Let’s consider the requirements in more detail.

Company Establishment

You can open a company in Poland before the need arises to obtain a payment license. Having a company that intends to operate in the fintech sector is one of the key conditions for registering a payment license in Poland.

Legal services will help you prepare for the application process, including timely company establishment, appointment of directors, and gathering documents in accordance with Poland’s current legislation. Thus, you won’t have to take additional steps to obtain the license.

Statutory Capital

Payment licenses are not issued to everyone. As an entrepreneur intending to engage in financial activities, the regulator will require you to have statutory capital.

For example, registering a payment license (EMI) implies that your company must have a minimum of 350,000 euros in its account. The requirements for PI are somewhat simpler and require a mandatory availability of 125,000 euros.

Therefore, without funds, you won’t be able to conduct financial operations, provide services, or withdraw funds offshore.

Management Team

Obtaining a payment license in Poland sets very high requirements for responsible individuals. For example, the management team must demonstrate their professionalism and sufficient level of skills and experience in working with the financial sector. It is also important for the company to have a regional office in the country and for its managers to be residents of Poland (even temporary or permanent residency is valued).

To minimize resource costs for preparing the application, you will need legal services to obtain the license, which will cover the main challenges of the process. They will also help you avoid problems with the regulator and understand how to obtain a payment license in Poland.

Business Plan

A payment system license in Poland is not issued if your enterprise does not have a clear business plan for the next three years. By the way, this includes marketing, scaling, and absolutely everything that defines the company’s framework and plans.

To make everything happen, you must demonstrate calculations of potential profits, losses, investments, and everything related to financial activities. This includes compensation guarantees to the injured party in case of precedents arising after the regulator allows you to register the payment license.

Compliance System

A payment system license implies that the company operates a high-quality and objective regulatory system. This means that corporate rules are clearly defined, internal norms comply with regional and industry standards, and employees are familiar with compliance and strictly adhere to its provisions.

Registering a payment license is associated with a thorough examination of the organization’s compliance with the compliance system, so as the company’s founder, you need to develop and implement rules BEFORE applying for permission to operate in the region. This is what distinguishes licenses in Poland from counterparts in some other countries.

Technical Infrastructure

Obtaining a payment license in Poland also depends on the brand’s high-quality IT infrastructure. Since the company’s activities are focused on finances and user data, the main emphasis should be on the security of software solutions, servers, and even local equipment used by operational offices.

If you are not entirely sure what the infrastructure should look like, then you will need legal services to register the payment license in Poland. More precisely, to prepare for the application and bring the IT infrastructure in line with requirements.

PSD2 Rules and Regulations

To obtain a payment license, you will need to ensure that the company complies with the PSD2 norms and rules. This is necessary to be able to work with financial institutions and banks without restrictions. That is, to freely exchange user, payment, and other client information.

Thus, payment licenses in Poland are issued only to those who can ensure their digital infrastructure and IT solutions for clients with reliable data protection algorithms, verification, and more. To obtain permission to operate, you will need the assistance of lawyers, cybersecurity specialists, developers, etc.

Documents Required for Obtaining a License

Registering a payment license in Poland involves many documents that you, as the enterprise’s owner, must provide to the regulator and other authorities. Here are some of them:

Company identification data (details, articles of association).
List of provided payment services.
Financial statements.
Business plan for a period of at least three years (including marketing and operational plans).
Financial plan for a minimum of three years.
Confirmation of the availability of funds.
Description of the risk management and internal control system.
Company and group structure diagram, if the applicant company belongs to such a group.
Identification data of executives and individuals holding substantial stakes in the company.
Confirmation that the applicant and individuals have the right to manage the payment institution.
Identification data of external auditors and audit firms.
Confirmation of the availability of civil liability insurance or bank guarantee.
Proof of compliance with strict customer authentication technical standards and general and secure open communication standards.
Confirmation of payment for authorization fees.
List of applicant’s agents if the applicant plans to provide payment services through agents.
List of applicant’s branches if the applicant intends to provide payment services in branches.

And if you need a payment system license without unnecessary hassle, you will also need legal services.

Legal Services for Obtaining a License

Obtaining a payment license is a rather costly process, especially when it comes to time and legal aspects. Most likely, you will not want to deal with legal matters yourself, or you simply may not be able to do so, getting caught in the trap of jurisprudence.

To ensure that your payment license registration is successful, you will need the qualified assistance of Lawrange niche experts. With them, you can quickly and without unnecessary problems obtain a payment license in Poland.

Consultation on License Acquisition

A payment system license in Poland is a complex and legally challenging document that presents the future owner with a weighty requirements checklist. Legal services will be useful to avoid getting lost in them, gather the right documents, and expedite the preparation process for submitting an application.

It’s not just about direct consultations but also about choosing the optimal resolution that will be most effective for your business. After all, licenses can be completely different and apply to several types of company activities.

Preparation of a Full Document Package

To register a payment license, you will need to gather an impressive list of documents, have them notarized, and verify them with the relevant regulators or competent authorities. You may physically lack the time for preparation, or you may get confused in all this hassle.

This is precisely why there are legal services from Lawrange experts for such cases. With our help, your registration will be quite fast and straightforward because you won’t have to collect and prepare the necessary documents yourself.

Representation in Polish Authorities

We will help you register the license remotely, for example, work with the regulator on your behalf, defend your interests in courts, and more. As a result, you won’t even have to take long breaks from your usual business activities, and our specialists will handle all the main processes.

Moreover, having responsible resident persons gives you the opportunity to register for a payment license in Poland without even visiting the country.

Assistance in Opening a Bank Account

You need to open a bank account in Poland to obtain a payment license. And yes, you can do this without visiting the country, for example, by appointing a responsible person among trusted individuals who are residents of the region. Well, accordingly, Lawrange lawyers will help you get the account, deposit the necessary minimum funds on it, prove the origin of funds, etc.

Thus, all potential problems in obtaining permits are neutralized. Payment licenses in Poland will become available to you thanks to the support of Lawrange experts.

Timeline for Obtaining Payment Licenses

A payment system license is obtained within 2-6 months from the date of application. But only under the following conditions:

Compliance with regulator requirements.
Availability of all documentation.
Organized infrastructure.
Resident executives with impeccable reputation and experience.
Minimum statutory capital, confirmed sources of funding.

If all of the above is present, the licenses become available. If not, you will have to make additional efforts to obtain permits for financial activities in the country.

Cost of Legal Services for Obtaining a Payment License

Obtaining a payment license is not a cheap process, but the benefits fully compensate for it. Legal support services will also affect your budget, but at the same time, they:

Guarantee the successful acquisition of the license.
Rid you of legal challenges.
Expedite preparation for registration.
Reduce risks associated with improper document preparation.
Decrease future expenses.

Registration will bring you more benefits than drawbacks if accompanied by the assistance of competent lawyers from the Lawrange team.

Why You Should Choose Lawrange

If you need a payment system license in Poland, then only Lawrange can guarantee that you will receive it relatively quickly and without additional problems.

This is possible because we have been in the market for over eight years and provide a wide range of services to clients worldwide. Reviews from numerous customers confirm our experience.

Want to see our expertise for yourself? Contact a Lawrange manager to discuss your project—and get the first consultation for free.

Conclusions

To register the license, you will need:

Timely company registration.
A statutory capital.
Local management team.
Business plan.
Well-thought-out compliance system.
Approved technical infrastructure.
Application of PSD2 rules.

You will also need expert legal assistance from Lawrange specialists or full support, which will save time and resources.

Therefore, if you want to obtain a payment license quickly and without problems, contact the experts at Lawrange!

FAQ

What activities can be carried out using an Authorized Payment Institution (API) payment license?

The license opens up a range of opportunities for businesses, such as:

Topping up user accounts in other systems.
Withdrawing funds from the accounts of individuals or legal entities.
Facilitating payment transactions between customer accounts.
Conducting transactions with coverage from the customer’s credit line.
Creating your own payment instruments or attracting third parties.

What advantages does obtaining a payment license provide for a company?

E-money issuance.
Payments in offline or online mode.
Sub-accounts within a bank account, paving the way for the creation of electronic wallets and individual IBANs.
Cash exchange services to the company’s electronic currency.
Providing information about the account.
Making transfers from payment cards.
Payment for goods and execution of transfers accompanied by debiting funds from the credit account.

Can foreign companies or citizens obtain a payment license in Poland?

Yes, if the local management team are residents of Poland, the company has a local office/representation and a local bank account with sufficient statutory capital.

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Obtaining Payment License in Poland – EMI, API, SPI