Czech payment institution and e-money institution licence.

What you get

How we get you licensed and live

1. Scoping and proposal. We confirm the licence type, the services, the safeguarding method and the capital with a buffer above the minimum, and can make a qualified enquiry to the Czech National Bank before the application.
2. Application pack. The CNB forms with the Decree No. 1/2022 annexes, a business plan with base and stress scenarios, governance, internal control, AML, security, outsourcing and insurance, filed through the CNB data box.
3. Banking. Your separate safeguarding account and operating accounts, opened alongside the application, with the safeguarding method fixed so it stays unchanged through the proceedings.
4. Regulator engagement. We answer every CNB question and hold the business plan and the capital stable through to the decision, within three months of the commencement of proceedings.

Your team, banking and technology

You will need directors who are trustworthy and professionally competent, running the company from its offices in the Czech Republic and meeting there.

One programme, from scoping to launch. Speak to an expert about this licence.

Who needs the licence

A legal person providing payment services or issuing e-money in the Czech Republic needs a licence from the Czech National Bank, or a small-scale licence where volumes stay below the thresholds and the business is domestic. The CNB publishes its assessment methodology in detail and may require the payment business to be held in a separate legal entity where other activities would affect financial stability or supervision.

Licence types

What the Czech National Bank requires

• Legal form and location. A legal person with its registered office and head office in the Czech Republic, providing at least part of the payment business there. The CNB’s methodology defines the actual seat as the place where the company is managed and its senior decision-makers meet; a post office box, a mail-only address or, as a rule, a virtual office does not qualify, and the applicant must hold a legal right to the premises. The CNB checks that the Czech business is genuine.
• Governance and people. Directors of trustworthiness and professional competence, assessed under the CNB’s official information of 5 August 2020; trustworthiness forms for each natural and legal person; major shareholder documents; a risk-based capital adequacy requirement for certain services.
• Safeguarding. Client funds kept separate and, by the end of the business day after receipt, deposited in a separate bank account or invested in low-risk liquid assets, or covered by insurance or a comparable guarantee. The CNB calls safeguarding one of the most important conditions: the method is settled before filing and the responsible unit named.
• Application pack. The CNB forms with the annexes in Decree No. 1/2022 Coll.: a business plan built on realistic economic calculations with a financial plan under base and stress scenarios, governance, internal control, anti-money laundering, security, outsourcing and insurance. Filing is electronic only, through the CNB data box or by email with a recognised electronic signature. An optional qualified enquiry to the CNB precedes the application.
• Capital. Initial capital by service, held at all times and converted at the CNB rate for the day before the decision; the CNB expects a buffer, and capital that falls below the limit during the proceedings leads to refusal. The CNB fixes one own funds method in the licence.

Capital

E-money institution capital is defined by the common equity items in Article 26 of the Capital Requirements Regulation. The CNB converts euro at its rate the day before the decision and expects a margin above the minimum.

Timing

Regulator figures are quoted as published and converted to months. Our realistic timeline assumes a complete, well-prepared application.

Fees and costs

Small-scale regimes

A small-scale payment service provider executes payment transactions in the Czech Republic up to a monthly average of €3 million over the last twelve months, with group members’ transactions counted towards the limit and the business plan setting the figure for a firm under twelve months old. A small-scale e-money issuer, a sole trader or a legal entity, keeps average outstanding e-money below €5 million and other payment transactions below €3 million a month. Each pays CZK 10,000, is generally decided within 30 days, takes effect on entry in the register and serves the Czech Republic only, without a passport.

Passporting and scope

A Czech payment institution or e-money institution passports throughout the EU and EEA by branch, agent, distributor or cross-border services under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/2055. The small-scale licences cover the Czech Republic only.

Why applications are delayed

The CNB’s 2025 assessment methodology sets out what it looks for.

1. The business plan. Filed with the application, specific to the business and stable through the proceedings, with a financial plan under base and stress scenarios, realistic client acquisition assumptions and target customer groups described precisely.
2. Safeguarding and capital. The safeguarding method settled before filing and unchanged during the proceedings; initial capital above the minimum throughout, since a shortfall during the proceedings leads to refusal.
3. Records and insurance. Financial statements filed in the commercial register, and insurance without shared limits or cyber exclusions.

A refusal may be appealed by rozklad to the CNB Bank Board.

Your bank accounts

A payment institution needs a safeguarding account, an operating account and settlement accounts in the currencies it serves. We open each alongside the application, so you trade from authorisation. See banking and payment processing.

Common questions

References

1. Czech National Bank: licensing of payment service providers and e-money issuers
2. Act No. 370/2017 Coll. on Payment Services, English translation
3. Czech National Bank: methodology for assessing applications under the Payment Services Act, May 2025
4. Portál veřejné správy: payment institution licence application
5. Portál veřejné správy: small-scale payment service provider licence
6. Portál veřejné správy: small-scale e-money issuer licence

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Requirements and fees change, and the regulator’s own publications take precedence.