EMI license
An Electronic Money Institution (EMI) is not a bank.
Although people often use these words interchangeably, they refer to different things.
Banking regulations and operations differ from those of an EMI. This blog will shed light on the functions of electronic money institutions and the principles of an e-money license.
What is EMI?
An Electronic Money Institution is a license to issue electronic money or e-money.
Only a competent supervisory authority in a particular country grants a license for such activities.
For example, Malta is a country with solid positioning in e-commerce. The authorized institution to issue such licenses there is the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). The supervisory financial regulator in Lithuania is the Bank of Lithuania.
In the European Union, all the institutions that grant electronic money institution licenses comply with Directive 2009/110/EC. This directive is the legal basis for e-money issuance.
In a broad sense, EMIs regulated by the EU can offer the following services:
- Issuance, distribution, or refund of electronic money
- Payment services to perform transactions with e-money, including but not limited to:
- Cash withdrawals from a payment account
- Transfer of funds to third parties
- Money remittance
- Payment cards, which includes taking out cash from a card and depositing cash to the payment card by customers
- Providing account information
We provide full assistance in license obtainment in different countries: United Kingdom, Lithuania, Malta, Cyprus, Latvia, Poland, Ireland.
Also we have ready-made companies with SPI and EMI license in different countries.