PI and EPI

WTS team has received many inquiries about a cost-effective way to license payment institutions (PI) or electronic money institutions (EMI), so we decide to write this guide that can be useful for many of you.

If you are planning to provide payment services or issue electronic money, you will need to apply with the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) for a license, either as a Payment Institution (PI) or Electronic Money Institution (EMI).

Payment services in the Republic of Serbia may be provided by:

a bank;

an electronic money institution;

a payment institution;

the National Bank of Serbia;

the Treasury Administration or other public authority bodies in the Republic of Serbia, in accordance with their competences established by law;

a public postal operator with its head office in the Republic of Serbia established in accordance with the law governing postal services (hereinafter: public postal operator).

Once you are licensed by NBS you can offer the following services:

services enabling cash to be placed on a payment account, as well as all services required for opening, maintaining and closing the account; [capital requirement 125000 euro]

services enabling cash withdrawals from a payment account, as well as all services required for opening, maintaining and closing the account; [capital requirement 125000 euro]

fund transfers from and/or to a payment account, in one of the following ways [capital requirement 125000 euro]:
(1) credit transfers,
(2) direct debits, including one-off direct debits,
(3) using a payment card or similar means;

execution of payment transactions where funds are covered by a credit line for a payment service user, in one of the following ways [capital requirement 125000 euro]:
(1) credit transfers,
(2) direct debits, including one-off direct debits,
(3) using a payment card or similar means;

issuing and/or acquiring of payment instruments where the payment service provider enables to the payee the execution of payment transactions initiated by the payer by using a specific payment instrument; [capital requirement 125000 euro]

money remittance services where a payment service provider receives funds from a payer, without any payment accounts being opened in the name of the payer or the payee, for the sole purpose of making these funds available to a payee or of transferring these funds to the payee’s payment service provider, which makes such funds available to the payee; [capital requirement 20000 euro]

execution of payment transactions where the consent of the payer to execute a payment transaction is given by means of any telecommunication, digital or IT device and the payment is made to the telecommunication, digital or IT network operator, acting only as an intermediary between the payment service user and the seller of products or provider of services.[capital requirement 50000 euro]

Before applying to become a PI, there is a list of conditions your company must meet for it to be considered, including that the application must be in respect of a body corporate, such as a limited company or partnership, your head office and registered office must be in Serbia, you have taken adequate measures to safeguard payment service user funds, etc.

There’s also a list of details you need to provide as part of your application which includes items such as the type of payment services business you want to provide and your plans for obtaining a ‘safeguarding’ account with Serbian bank.

If your business idea is to provide payment services, for example, check-out solution for online stores, then this would be the right license to apply for.

What is the difference between a licensed payment institution (PI) and an electronic money institution (EMI)?

The main difference between the two types of Payment Service Providers is that only Electronic Money Institutions can issue electronic money or digital currency such as a money balance recorded electronically on a stored-value card (pre-paid card) or account (e-wallet) or other devices. Electronic Money Institution can offer all the services a licensed Payment Institution can offer. The capital requirement starts from 350 €.

If you apply as a licensed EMI you have to provide relevant information about your e-money platform, including your e-money business in the form of a business plan, the payment services you may provide in the business plan, and the measures you have taken to safeguard.

The average term of obtaining a PI or EMI license in Serbia is 3 to 6 months from the company registration date.

What about the investment required and the capital requirement?

Initial capital requirement – from 20.000€ to EUR 350,000€

Professional Fees:

Usually, our full package to acquire your license includes:

1) Formation of the Company;

2) First year company registered address;

3) One set of original corporate documents;

4) Due Diligence file for Directors and Shareholders of the company

5) Completing a License Application;

6) Collecting supporting license application documents from the client;

7) Submitting the application to the NBS and following it up until finalized;

8) Bookkeeping and Accounting;

9) 24/7 support in English, Russian, Spanish and Turkish;

Please feel free to contact us for further information on our professional fees.

Our WTS team consists of experienced bankers and lawyers, who have been successfully overcoming different business challenges of our Clients for the last 30 years.

Our key success factors are a combination of experience, fast and immediate but precise solving of all tasks, and most important: a passion for our job.

“My account was closed in Latvia and due to my PEP status I had a problem opening bank account.”

Citizen of Ukraine, physical person

“One meeting with WTS team was enough to convince me that this is reliable partner in jurisdiction with so much potential”

- Owner at law office in Malta

“As a consultant expert I had a problem with finding solutions for clients whose accounts were closed in Cyprus. Mutual business partner suggested WTS association and Serbia as a solution and it payed of.”