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Research Outline
Prepared for Ben T. | Delivered August 3, 2019
E-Money EU Jurisdictions
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Goals
To identify priority jurisdictions in the EU to market an e-money product. Priority will be based on competition, size of the market, culture (attitude toward tech startups, accelerators, etc.), and available KPIs.
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Early Findings
Preliminary research indicates that there are numerous jurisdictions in the EU that would be excellent choices for an e-money startup to market a new product. Early findings indicate that Lithuania, Luxembourg, and Ireland are priority jurisdictions.
LITHUANIA
In 2018, Google was granted an electronic money institution license in Lithuania, which will allow Google to "issue and redeem
electronic money
and provide payment services."
Lithuania has a regulatory environment that is conducive to FinTech startups. As Marius Jurgilas, board member of the Bank of Lithuania states, "Our regulatory environment and the benefits it offers have been acknowledged by both
startups
and world-class FinTech companies."
The Lithuanian FinTech Initiative "now covers more than
100 licensed companies
, with most of them involved in payments, electronic money and peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding."
Lithuania appears to be a strong test market for e-money companies, as Revolut, a digital bank in the U.K. was also granted a banking license by the European Central Bank, but is going to "start by testing the
new license in Lithuania
next year." If that plan goes smoothly, the company will "
look to expand
into other European markets later in the year."
Lithuania is one of the fastest-licensing jurisdictions in the EU, granting them in as
little as three months
.
Lithuania has granted
39 e-money licenses
, which is second only to the UK, which has
issued 128
.
LUXEMBOURG
Alipay, a Chinese mobile and online payment platform, has been operating in Europe
since 2015
, but did not have its own e-money license, which meant that to operate, the company had to
form partnerships
with local card acquiring services to allow Chinese tourists to use their Alipay accounts.
In 2019, Alipay obtained an e-money license in
Luxembourg
that will now allow the company to "offer its services across Europe to the domestic
mobile payments market
."
Amazon Payments Europe
also received its e-money license from Luxembourg.
Luxembourg has a "dedicated national FinTech platform: the Luxembourg
House of Financial Technology
(The LHoFT)" that is responsible for building and fostering the country's FinTech ecosystem.
According to Luxembourg's Fintech Innovation Hub, the country is "an
ideal environment for fintech
with an engaged and accessible ecosystem."
Luxembourg benefits from a strategic EU location, as it provides "
easy access
to Paris, London, Zürich, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Brussels amongst many key EU locations."
IRELAND
Ireland is another jurisdiction that is home to a "thriving financial services and
growing FinTech sector
."
One of its advantages is its favorable tax regime due to a "combination of a
12.5% corporate tax rate
and an exceptionally extensive and comprehensive set of double tax agreements."
London-based Soldo, a fintech company that offers "
payment and spend management
services to businesses," obtained an e-money license from Ireland in March 2019.
While this is only the
third company
to receive an e-money license from Ireland, with
Facebook and PayPal
the first two, the "complex legislation and high standards demanded by the Central Bank of Ireland ensure that
only well run businesses
with high standards apply for an E-Money license in Ireland."
A fourth company,
Navan
, received an e-money license from Ireland in April 2019.
Ireland has many of the same benefits as Lithuania and Luxembourg, but may have less competition due to its
18-month
license-granting process.
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