This marks a pivotal moment for the payabl. Group and a critical step for the PayTech as it continues its rapid growth trajectory.

The business has been preparing for its launch as a fully regulated EMI in the UK across recent months. payabl. is now focused on expanding its team, hiring talented payment experts from across the region to support business growth, and expanding its merchant portfolio.

The granting of the UK EMI authorisation allows the payabl. Group, previously operating under the FCA’s Temporary Permission Regime (TPR), to transfer its UK-based customers onto its UK EMI. Following Brexit, the number of businesses acquiring an EMI licence has significantly slowed, with only seven applications being approved in the first quarter of 2023. In fact, further data from the FCA has revealed that the authorisation rate for EMI applications fell to just 8% in 2022, a significant drop compared to 90% in 2018 and 47% in 2021. As such, acquiring the EMI authorisation has been a lengthy and complex process, but an outstanding achievement for payabl..

The process has been spearheaded by Sean Forward, UK CEO of payabl., and his UK team supported by Ugne Buraciene, Group CEO. Forward is a payments industry veteran, with extensive experience and expertise in the payments space. He is also a member of the Project Digital Currencies, The Payment’s Association digital currency group, advising and engaging key stakeholders on a range of topics related to digital assets, from regulatory frameworks to wider ecosystem design. Sean’s wealth of experience was central to enabling payabl. to secure the authorisation. This achievement unlocks significant opportunities for payabl.’s expansion in the UK market, taking the company one step further in its mission to become the financial services partner of choice for merchants across the globe. With the new authorisation, payabl.’s UK offering will include merchant acquiring for Visa, Mastercard and American Express, point-of-sale (POS) systems, payment accounts and linked payment cards.

Sean Forward, UK CEO at payabl., said: “Becoming an authorised EMI in the UK is a major achievement for payabl. The whole team has worked incredibly hard on this, regularly engaging with the FCA to meet the requirements and we’re extremely proud of our achievement. Being an authorised EMI provides us with a robust regulatory framework that’ll allow us to support UK merchants and allowing them to thrive, as we have been doing for merchants across Europe. The next step for us will be to grow our UK team, increasing our pool of talented payment professionals to support our growth ambitions, as well as guiding our existing customers who already operate in Europe as they expand their presence in the UK.”

Ugne Buraciene, Group CEO at payabl., said: “We’re thrilled to be expanding our presence in the UK with the acquisition of an EMI authorisation. With this we can continue to focus on reaching new merchants and clients, evolve key partnerships and bolster our overall growth throughout the payments landscape. Sean is the ideal person to be leading payabl. UK on its growth journey - his industry expertise is unparalleled, and I’m delighted to be working alongside him throughout this process.”