Licensed electronic money institution + CENTROlink
Do you need to provide SEPA payments or are you looking to take advantage of Centrolink? Then the Lithuania Electronic Money Institution (EMI) fintech license is the right choice for you.
Contact us at Aniva Consulting and we will explain to you in detail on how to obtain this license.
What are the requirements for e-money institution license:
- Shareholders setting up the Lithuanian EMI must be screened by the Lietuvos Bankas (Bank of Lithuania) in parallel with licensing procedure.
- Number of employees:
Three (3) employees are needed at minimum, namely:
- local director (executive);
- AML compliance officer (or sometimes called money laundering compliance officer);
- Regulatory compliance officer (taking care of EMI reporting requirements)
- Outsourcing – as most of our clients handle their operations from outside Lithuania, or are planning to use outsourced service providers, outsourcing agreements will need to be put in place and need to be drafted precisely to meet Bank of Lithuania’s requirements. Don’t fret, our team of experienced consultants will be here to help you with this problematic task including drafting and provide you with consultation on the structure.
- Minimum capital requirements – based on the EMI directive from the European Union, the minimum capital requirement is €350,000. However, this isn’t showing you the entire picture and is rather misleading. This is because, Bank of Lithuania (BOL) requires a buffer on the capital requirement for a full EMI (small EMIs, are thankfully not subjected to this strict requirement). We therefore would recommend setting aside at least €450,00 or even more as the minimum capital for a full EMI.
What is CENTROlink?
CENTROlink, a payment system Lietuvos Bankas operates, is one of the big advantages of setting up an EMI in Lithuania. It provides access to SEPA and TARGET2 settlement system for different kinds of payment institutions, including also Lithuanian EMIs as well as PIs (with a Lithuanian license).
Any participant of CENTROlink is able to offer instant payments on a 24/7 basis with credit transfers and direct debit services.
Why Obtain a License in Lithuania:
- CENTROlink – no need to open accounts with commercial banks
- EU reputable payment institution
- Institution set up in eurozone (SEPA)
- Access to labour force in a country with skilled staff in the payments industry
- Contact with other payment institutions within a payment hub
- Close contact with other Baltic countries and Poland with more pro-business commercial banks
- Passporting to other EU countries
If you are still hesitating or are you unsure on how to proceed – let your trusted partners at Aniva Consulting not only walk you through the process but complete it for you too.
Licensed electronic money institution engaged in restricted activities + CENTROlink
Are you planning to set up an electronic money institution (EMI) in the European Union to obtain easier access to SEPA? Or are you planning to connect to Centrolink?
Then Lithuania is the right choice for you.
If you are a new start up or want to start small, then a licensed EMI engaged in restricted activities might be the right choice for you!
What are the advantages? Here they are:
- CENTROlink – no need to open accounts with commercial banks
- EU reputable payment institution
- Institution set up in eurozone (SEPA)
- Access to labour force in a country with skilled staff in the payments industry
- Contact with other payment institutions within a payment hub
- Close contact with other Baltic countries and Poland with more pro-business commercial banks
- No minimum capital requirements (when engaged in restricted activities only, a full EMI still requires €350,000 minimum capital plus buffer)
Of course, everything comes at a cost – here it’s the territorial limitation for Lithuania. Therefore, passporting is not allowed.
What is CENTROlink?
CENTROlink, a payment system Lietuvos Bankas operates, is one of the big advantages of setting up an EMI in Lithuania. It provides access to SEPA and TARGET2 settlement system for different kinds of payment institutions, including also Lithuanian EMIs as well as PIs (with a Lithuanian license).
Any participant of CENTROlink is able to offer instant payments on a 24/7 basis with credit transfers and direct debit services.
If the EMI engaged in restricted activities looks as the most appropriate for you and you don’t want to spend money on minimum capital requirements or you simply want to try having an EMI, feel free to contact us and Aniva Consulting will take care of the rest!
Licensed payment institution
Is the European Union (EU) payment license the right one for your clients?
Do you need a reputable license for card acquiring?
Want to be in the SEPA area?
Then – Lithuanian Payment Institution (PI) license is the one that can meet your demands!
What can I do with a Payment Institution license in Lithuania?
Here’s a summary:
- Executions of standard payment transactions – this means that you can transfer funds from and to a payment account through a payment service provider (either the same, so it will be a P2P transfer, or to another payment service provider). Moreover, the payment service provider may provide additional services e.g., direct debits, payment transactions through the use of a debit/credit card (or prepaid card), standing orders and so on.
- Deposits from other payment methods to a payment account and their operations
- Withdrawals to other payment methods from a payment account
- Card issuing (see explanation below)
- Card acquiring (see explanation below)
- Money transfers (remittance)
- Money exchange (certain PIs work as money exchangers or currency exchangers under this license, so if that’s what you need, this license is recommended)
- Payment initiation service
- Account information service
- Ancillary services related to payment services (custody, data collection, management)
- Operation of payment systems
Minimum capital requirements are based on the type of services provided, the maximum being €125,000.
Further, you can take advantage of the PI also for card issuing or card acquiring and benefit from card transactions of your merchants.
What are the limits on a small PI? Here’s the information:
With regards to its payment activities, there is a limit that small PI license companies in Lithuania cannot exceed without applying to be authorized as a fully licensed payment institution. In the event the small PI does not apply for a full PI license once the threshold is exceeded, the small PI license will be withdrawn. The limit for Small PI is set in a form of the average of the total amount of payment transactions executed over the previous 12 months, which may not exceed the limit of €3,000,000.00 a month.
Advantages of PI or small PI in Lithuania:
- CENTROlink
- SEPA and Target2
- Fintech-friendly environment
- EU reputation
- Educated manpower
- EU passporting
- Regulatory sandbox
- English used standardly
- Fast and cost-effective authorization process
- Generating unique IBANs for clients
- Good standing banks
Bank account in or outside of Lithuania
Struggling to open a bank account for your company? Or do you have problems with finding a specific currency account or omnibus account?
This is exactly what our experts from the payments industry at Aniva Consulting do. Just let us know your requirements and we will work with you to liaise with financial institutions and banks that would be interested in opening an account to meet your business scope.
Getting a bank account has become a struggle for many companies and even more for financial or payment institutions (but also others). As the AML/CFT legislation is evolving each year, impact of these changes is felt in financial industry, but also in any other areas, including standard accounts, alternative payment methods, but also correspondent banking (yes, even banks have problems with bank accounts!).
With Aniva Consulting, you can always be sure that our experts will ensure and care to have your account opened in a suitable institution to advance your business needs. You just have to express your needs and we will put our maximum efforts into finding the best suitable institutions to cover your business according to your wishes.
AML/CFT and regulatory compliance
Nowadays, there’s no doubt that each financial, payment institution or companies from other industries face compliance issues, that occur on a regular basis. Thus, the very real need for a proper compliance system set up within the company. This is related to both, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) activities as well as to regulatory compliance.
But why struggle to set all this up on your own? Our team of AML/CFT experts at Aniva Consulting are here to help you create a robust and fully compliant AML/CFT system. Don’t hesitate to contact us!
The AML/CFT area has become one of the most focused areas among regulatory bodies in all developed countries and the main challenge for most payment and capital markets (or other financial) institutions. Nevertheless, our experienced team is ready to provide you the helping hand you need in this area, and we will assist you to set up your system properly in accordance with the expectations of your regulatory body, so you don’t have to be worried about significant deficiencies that might bring you trouble.
Our team of AML/CFT experts have extensive experience in preparing AML policies and procedures and rich experiences with the setup of AML/CFT systems in different types of payment and capital market institutions in various jurisdictions, you can feel more than safe with the quality of the AML/CFT system we will design for you and be assured it will be to a quality standard that more than meets our regulatory body’s requirements.
Moreover, regulatory compliance comprises the preparation of various different reports, which our team of experienced personnel will take care of for you instead of you having to create, train and supervise a team of your own. Ensure good relations with your regulatory body through a proper AML/CFT system – our consultants are here to share their experiences and help you to always remain compliant.
AML/CFT and payment services gap analysis
Each company has its own desired outcome in its business plan or in the minds of their founders or directors. However, the reality tends to be different or deviates to a certain extent from your business goals. While many will accept it as a natural and expected phenomenon, but what if you could achieve your desired company outcomes?
There’s often a gap between “where we are” and “where we want to be.” You’ll never get rid of it, however, let’s make it as narrow as possible!
Payment and financial institutions may face deficiencies in different areas, however, now the most important and business-crucial ones are the deficiencies in the AML/CFT and payments area. Struggling with account opening or onboarding a client due to AML/CFT issues might affect business adversely or even existentially, therefore, it is necessary to remove such obstacles to be able to move the company forward.
Our team is aware of this necessity and is ready to perform full-scale gap analysis of your company and activities using data and statistics from previous periods. We will then help you close the gap and remedy the situation with additional options of opening necessary accounts with the improvements implemented.
Don’t hesitate to reach your goals – with our assistance, you will be closer than ever before!
AML/CFT training
An effective AML/CFT system does not only consist of having a proper set of rules, rather it heavily relies on the people who make up your compliance team. And these people need to have proper experiences and updated knowledge – this can only be achieved through constant and timely AML/CFT training, done either in person or regularly online.
Consultants from Aniva Consulting possess multi-year experiences from payments and capital markets industry in the area of AML/CFT, and we are ready to share our knowledge and experiences with your staff and teams.
You can gain knowledge much faster and satisfy your regulatory / supervisory body with the level AMF/CFT compliance knowledge your internal teams and skilled personnel possess. All payments and financial institutions need to have their customer facing staff, operation personnel, compliance department, third line of defense (internal audit) staff and senior management with board of directors aware of potential AML/CFT issues.
As this area has become a serious concern in the eyes of supervisory bodies and banks, it’s necessary to prepare your infrastructure and know-how of your personnel.
Don’t waste your time and resources – you can increase the knowledge of your staff more effectively and in short-time, while developing high quality AML/CFT compliance know-how in-house! Contact us at Aniva Consulting and together, we’ll make it happen!
Corporate admin in relation to a Lithuanian company
One of the most time-consuming part of every business is the incredible mountains of paperwork that inevitably needs to be handled to remain compliant with local company law requirements. This administrative work occupies and takes up your existing personnel resources and human resource funding which could be used towards increase sales or marketing personnel headcount. Or are you a new company looking to keep a low headcount while remaining statutorily compliant with local mandatory requirements?
Your time and that of your staff are precious – leave the corporate administration to Aniva Consulting and focus on your business and profit!
Not only licensed companies in the area of payments or capital markets, but also standard ones require hard work and dedicated corporate admin teams to meet all the mandatory requirements not only during their formation, but also on an ongoing basis. Setting up such teams takes time, money and multiple error corrections before an effective system can be set up. Why not solve this easily through the help of Aniva Consulting’s team of experienced personnel who will care for your company’s corporate admin needs as well as communication with relevant authorities.
Where you would like to have your own in-house teams, Aniva Consulting’s consultants are ready to provide you with consultancy assistance to help you with the storage of all relevant client documents, their preparations, certifications, reporting or warning you about mandatory deadlines. In this way, we will be your second line of defence and you don’t have to rely solely only on your employees. You can be sure then that you meet the expectations of your supervisory body.
Don’t waste time on paperwork – focus on your profit and Aniva Consulting will take care of the rest!
Obtaining legal, tax, accounting or audit assistance for clients
A natural part of each business is regular legal and tax advisory that’s necessary to properly run a business. This might be to purely consult on specific activities, a new type of business concern or certain issues have arisen in connection with your supervisory body. The same applies to taxes where prevention is always better that any kind of sanctions.
Feeling uncertain about any legal issues, accounting or tax questions? Do you require an AML/CFT compliance auditor? Ask Aniva Consulting for assistance!
It’s only natural that business expansion will result in new questions which will require additional and more specific consulting or advisory on. Our experts from both fields have a global network of advisors who are sound professionals in their own regard. We will assist you by sourcing the best suited advisors to match your needs and provide a list of carefully selected advisors who will assist to solve your specific issue.
Having solved various payments or capital market industry concerns and possibly similar issues to what you might have now, our consultants know exactly where to find the right answer and who to connect you with, thus providing you with a one-stop-solution, so you can save time finding the right lawyer or tax advisor. Our network already comprises expert in all the necessary areas for your business.
Avoid the long and costly search for the right person, ask our consultants – we will get you the right advice immediately!