The EMI licence, explained
The workhorse authorisation of European fintech: 686 e-money institutions sit in the EEA and UK registers, and 100 verified providers in this catalogue operate under one. What the licence actually permits, what it costs, and how to check any EMI claim at source.
What an e-money institution may do
Under the E-Money Directive (EMD2), an EMI may issue and redeem electronic money at par value — the stored balances behind wallets, payment accounts and prepaid cards — and provide the full set of payment services: accounts with IBANs, transfers, card issuing, acquiring. It may distribute through agents and distributors, which is the legal machinery behind most licence-umbrella (white-label) fintech programmes.
What it may not do is equally defining: an EMI cannot take deposits or lend customer funds. Customer money is not the EMI's working capital — which leads straight to the most misunderstood word in fintech:
Safeguarding, not deposit guarantees
EMI customer funds must be safeguarded — segregated at a credit institution (or covered by insurance) and ring-fenced from the EMI's creditors in insolvency. That is genuine protection, but it is not the EUR 100,000 deposit guarantee a bank offers. The distinction matters enough that every relevant profile in this catalogue carries a client funds line saying which regime applies — and the full definition lives at safeguarding in the glossary.
What it takes to get one
- Initial capital: EUR 350,000 (EMD2), plus ongoing own funds that scale with outstanding e-money;
- a working safeguarding arrangement, fit-and-proper management, AML setup and a credible programme of operations;
- an authorisation process that commonly runs six months to a year, varying by regulator.
One authorisation then passports across all 30 EEA states — which is why licence geography is strategy: Lithuania built the EEA's biggest EMI cluster, a story told with register data in who holds Europe's fintech licences. Whether to get your own EMI licence at all — or launch under a provider's umbrella first — is the decision mapped in EMI licence vs BYOL.
Verify any EMI claim at source
“Fully licensed” on a landing page is marketing; a register row is a fact. Browse every e-money institution in the official EEA and UK registers, pre-filtered: EMIs in the European Fintech Index (686 of 2,579 licensed entities). In the catalogue itself, the licence-type filter surfaces the 100 verified providers operating as EMIs — concentrated among IBAN sponsors, BaaS platforms and BIN sponsors.
The licence family
Payment institution (PI) — payments without e-money · Banking licence — deposits, credit and the EUR 100k guarantee · MiCA — crypto-asset services and euro stablecoins · EMI vs BYOL — whether to hold one at all.
FAQ
What can an e-money institution actually do?
Issue and redeem electronic money at par value, provide payment services (accounts, transfers, cards, acquiring), and distribute through agents and distributors - passported across the whole EEA from one authorisation. What it cannot do: take deposits or lend from customer funds like a bank; customer money must be safeguarded, not put to work.
Is my money safe with an EMI - is it deposit-guaranteed?
EMI customer funds are safeguarded: segregated at a credit institution (or insured) and ring-fenced from the EMI's creditors. That is real protection in insolvency, but it is not a deposit guarantee scheme - there is no EUR 100,000 state-backed guarantee like at a bank. Every relevant profile in the catalogue carries a client-funds line making exactly this distinction.
How long does it take to get an EMI licence?
Commonly six months to a year with a national regulator, on top of preparing the application: EUR 350,000 initial capital under EMD2, a safeguarding setup, fit-and-proper management, AML arrangements and a credible programme of operations. Queues and supervision style differ by country - which is why licence geography is strategy, not paperwork.