How to obtain a license 
for a payment institution

RTS Advisory Ltd offers professional consultancy in obtaining the license to offer payment services. (Financial Institutions Act, Chap 376) 

The financial institutions legislation entails that companies licensed as payment institutions in Malta, can offer the following services:

(a) Cash deposit in a payment account as well as all transactions related to the management of a payment account; 

(b) Cash withdrawal from a payment account as well as all the transactions required for the management of the account; 

(c) Execution of payment orders, including the transfer of funds between payment accounts with the same provider or with a third-party payment service provider;

• execution of direct debits, including one-off direct debits;
• execution of payment transactions by means of payment cards or similar devices;
• execution of transfers, including recurring payment orders;

 

 

Payment institutions may also offer the following complementary services:

• the provision of auxiliary services operating and strictly related to the payment service, as a guarantee of the execution of payment transactions, exchange services strictly related to the field of payment services, custody activities, data processing and registration;
• commercial activities other than the provision of payment services, provided that they do not compromise or damage the entity’s financial soundness or the ability of the competent authority to monitor compliance with the payment institution’s laws and regulations in force;
• payment institutions may only use clients’ funds for the payment purposes, accounts opened to clients do not constitute repayable deposits pursuant to the banking legislation.

 

Payment institutions may only grant credits for payment services if the following conditions are met:

• the credit is ancillary and granted exclusively in relation to the execution of a transaction;
• without prejudice to national rules on the granting of credit through credit cards, credit granted in connection with a payment must be repaid within a short period and cannot exceed twelve months;
• this credit cannot be granted by using funds received or held for the purpose of executing a payment transaction;
• The MFSA regulator may at any time verify the amount of the payment institution’s own funds against the credit granted.

Initial Minimum Capital Requirement
Pursuant to the provisions of FIR 01/2010, the initial minimum capital requirement depends on the specific activities to be carried out by the applicant. Therefore, when the institution provides one of the payment services referred to in points (a) – (e) of the above mentioned eligible activities, the minimum capital requirement will amount to be €125,000. If the institution provides only the payment service referred to in point (f), then the minimum capital requirement will amount to €20,000 and if the institution provides the payment service referred to in paragraph (g), then the  minimum capital requirement will amount to €50,000. 

 

Timeframes to obtain a licence:
The approximate period of time required to obtain this type of licence depends on the completeness of the information provided by the applicant, that will average to about 4/5 months. 

The licence to offer payment services can be passported in all  EU member states.

Banking and Credit Institution licence
RTS Advisory Ltd offers professional advice aimed at obtaining a banking licence in Malta. (Banking Act, Chap 371)

The respective legislation for a credit institution requires that companies licensed as a credit institution in Malta may offer the following services:

• Deposits of funds by the public in their own account and on payment instruments repayable at sight or in a determined period;
• Collection of funds from public savings in order to lend or invest at their own risk all or part of the funds;

Maltese credit institutions, subject to the authorisation of the MFSA regulator, can offer the following ancillary services:

• Financial leasing;
• Payment services;
• Issuance and management of other payment means (bank cheques, banks drafts and similar instruments);
• Guarantees and bonds;
• Trading on own account or on behalf of clients in:
  • money market instruments (cheques, bills of exchange, certificates of deposit and similar instruments);
  • currency exchange services;
  • futures and financial options;
  • exchange and interest rate instruments;
  • transferable securities;

• Participation in issue of securities and the provision of related services to these issues;
• Consultancy to companies in relation to financial structure, industrial strategy and related issues and advice as well as services related to mergers and the acquisition of companies;
• Credit intermediation;
• Portfolio management and consultancy;
• Custody and administration of transferable securities;
• Commercial information services;
• Safety deposit box services;
• Issue of electronic money

Minimum initial capital requirement
The initial minimum capital to obtain a licence in Malta is 6 million Euro. 

Timeframe to obtain a licence:
The approximate timeframe to obtain this type of licence is about 9/12 months. 

The licence to offer banking services can be passported in all  EU member states