Licensing guide · 8 min read
What Financial Licence Do I Need?
A structured way to work out which authorisation your business model actually triggers — by activity, not by label.
Regulators license activities, not brand names. "Neobank", "wallet" or "crypto app" tell a regulator very little; what matters is what you actually do with customer money and assets.
Start from the activity
- Accepting deposits from the public is the trigger for a banking licence almost everywhere. Switzerland adds a FinTech licence for non-interest-bearing deposits up to CHF 100 million.
- Issuing electronic money (stored monetary value redeemable at par) typically requires an e-money licence.
- Executing payments, transfers or acquiring without issuing e-money points to a payment institution or money transmitter regime.
- Exchanging or holding crypto-assets for clients points to a CASP (EU) or VASP regime.
- Lending from own funds usually requires a credit licence, not a banking licence.
- Investment services — brokerage, portfolio management, advice — need a securities authorisation.
Then apply geography
Most licences are territorial. You generally need authorisation where you are established *and* consider rules where your customers are. EU licences can be passported within the EEA; UK, Swiss, US, Singapore and UAE licences cannot.
Consider partner models
Many founders start under a licensed partner — Banking-as-a-Service, agent or distributor arrangements. These reduce time to market but shift dependency and margin to the partner, and you remain subject to rules on outsourcing, marketing and AML.
Use the tool
Our Find My Licence assessment walks through these questions and returns potentially relevant authorisations, regulators and open questions. It is a preliminary orientation, not legal advice.
Official sources
General information, not legal advice. Confirm current requirements with the competent authority.