Establishment and authorisation / licencing of Electronic Money Institutions (EMI)

The aim of this Guide is to introduce persons concerned to the authorisation process for electronic money institutions conducted by the Bank of Lithuania, requirements for electronic money institutions being established (legal persons not yet established) or being authorised (already established legal persons), set out the approach of the Bank of Lithuania to new market participants, set out a list of the documents to be submitted with an application for authorisation, and to identify other major aspects of authorisation.

Authorisation of Electronic Money Institutions

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License of an electronic money institution (EMI)

The Republic of Lithuania Law on Electronic Money Institutions (hereinafter ‘the Law’) lays down that ‘electronic money’ means a monetary value as represented by a claim on the issuer which is issued on receipt of monetary funds (hereinafter referred to as ‘funds’) by the electronic money issuer from a natural or legal person and has the following characteristics:

stored electronically (incl. magnetically);
is issued for the purpose of making payment transactions;
is received by persons other than electronic money issuers.

In order to accept money from clients in the electronic domain and to hold it in payment accounts for a relatively long time, issuing electronic money and then redeeming it, prior to that it is necessary to become an electronic money issuer (this can only be done by credit institutions, electronic money institutions (EMIs) and some other institutions).

It is worthwhile noting that the Law provides that EMIs shall be entitled to not only issuing electronic money in the Republic of Lithuania and/or other Member States, but also providing the services specified in Article 5 of the Republic of Lithuania Law on Payments (providing payment services, e.g. issuing and/or acquiring of payment instruments, money transfers and other services).

Licence of an electronic money institution to engage in restricted activities

To establish a favourable environment for Lithuanian and foreign startups, a special project for an EMI licence to engage in restricted activities has been implemented with the aim of facilitating access of new market participants to the Lithuanian market and later, after being granted a licence to engage in usual activities, to also the European Economic Area market. The basic difference between an EMI engaged in restricted activities and a traditional EMI is that the EMI engaged in restricted activities is not subject to the minimum initial capital requirement; however, a licence of an electronic money institution to engage in restricted activities is valid solely in the Republic of Lithuania. In order to be granted an EMI licence, it is necessary to hold a capital of EUR 350,000; however, this licence entitles to the provision of the electronic money issuance and redemption, distribution and payment services in other EU Member States as well after carrying out a notification procedure.

Authorisation process

The approach of the Bank of Lithuania to the authorisation process for EMIs, as well as for other institutions, is, as far as possible, an open one and normally begins well before an application for an authorisation is submitted to it. We encourage all applicants who actively seek an EMI licence to contact us as early as possible so that we could discuss their planning process and help determine financial servisces that have to be licensed. This allows us to be clearer in explaining the authorisation process and its meaning, our requests, requirements, expectations and all other major aspects that may affect the authorisation process.

The following basic stages in the authorisation process can be singled out:

submission of an application for an EMI licence to the Bank of Lithuania: the Bank of Lithuania, within 5 business days, reviews whether all necessary documents have been submitted and, where no formal deficiencies are identified, accepts the application for consideration;
assessment of an application for a licence of an EMI and attached documents: where the documents submitted have no deficiencies, the licence is issued within the shortest possible 3 month-term (for an EMI licence to engage in restricted activities - within a 2 month-term). Nevertheless, our experience shows that submitted documents in only exceptional cases do not contain deficiencies of some sort; therefore, the Bank of Lithuania usually submits comments to the applicant for an EMI licence, asking to submit additional information or documents. In that case, the time limit for assessment is extended;
issuance of a licence or refusal to issue a licence: after finishing assessment of submitted documents, the Board of the Bank of Lithuania analyses summary information submitted and takes a decision regarding the issuance of a licence or refusal to issue it.

Statutory timeframe

The laws provide that an application for a licence of an EMI must be assessed within: 1) 3 months of submission of proper and sufficiently informative documents; 2) where not all documents have been submitted or have been submitted with deficiencies, within 3 months of submission of the documents and information required additionally by the Bank of Lithuania.

EMI licence fee

Prior to applying for an EMI licence it is necessary to pay into the account of the State Tax Inspectorate (STI) a state levy for the granting of the EMI licence, which currently is EUR 1,463 (the sizes of levies are established by Resolution No 1458 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania of 15 December 2000). The EMI licence to engage in restricted activities is currently subject to a smaller levy (EUR 1,235).

The procedure for the generation of online banking orders to the income collection accounts of the STI and the numbers of the income collection accounts are available on the STI website.

Key requirements for an EMI being established or authorised

Taking into account that, at the time of authorisation, the EMI being established or authorised must be prepared to comply with all requirements set for it, as an EMI in operation, the Bank of Lithuania requests that detailed data is submitted already at the time of application. Nevertheless, when assessing the critical aspects that may determine the authorisation of an EMI, the following basic elements can be singled out:

fitness of submitted documents: the documents submitted must comply with the requirements of the legal acts regulating EMI activities and their supervision; all correct data established in legal acts or requested additionally must be submitted;
compliance with the minimum capital requirement for EMIs: according to the provisions of the Republic of Lithuania Law on Electronic Money and Electronic Money Institutions, an EMI must possess a minimum initial capital of no less than EUR 350,000 and an EMI engaged in restricted activities is not subject to this requirement. The preceding 6 months’ average outstanding electronic money of the EMI to which a payment institution licence for restricted activities has been issued (where no activities are carried out, projected in a business plan) may not exceed EUR 900,000 per month, with the exception of the case specified in paragraph 7 of Article 12 of the Law. On exceeding this limit, the institution must, within 30 days of this fact coming to light, apply to the Bank of Lithuania for granting an EMI licence for unrestricted activities;
fitness and propriety of the EMI and its shareholders or holders of voting rights: entities with a qualifying holding in the EMI’s authorised capital and/or voting rights must be able to ensure sound and prudent management of the EMI, have sufficiently high repute and be financially sound (the licence of an EMI to engage in restricted activities is not subject to the requirements for the fitness and propriety of shareholders or holders of voting rights);
fitness and propriety of heads of an electronic money institution: the heads of an electronic money institution must be of good repute and possess the qualification and experience necessary to properly perform their duties.
the operating plan must correspond to the possibilities of the EMI’s founders (shareholders or holders of voting rights) to implement it, while the prospective EMI must, at the time of authorisation, be prepared to provide financial services in a safe and sound manner.

It should be noted that, given the need to ensure sound and prudent management of the EMI, the EMI must have a detailed procedure for the management of electronic money issuance activity, adequate to the nature, scope and complexity of the EMI’s activities, including an organisational structure allowing to ensure the differentiation of functions and vertical as well as horizontal responsibilities with clearly defined, transparent and consistent limits of responsibility, a system for the identification, management, monitoring of risk which arose or may arise, a management information and internal control system, including reliable administrative measures and an accounting system.

Assessment of submitted documents

The process usually involves verification and assessment by a number of specialists from the Bank of Lithuania to assist in the formation of a common opinion and in reaching a decision about the application. During the assessment period, the following also takes place:

regular communication and meetings with representatives of the applicant firm (when required);
submission of comments by the Bank of Lithuania, according to which the EMI must eliminate established material deficiencies. Upon request of additional information or data, the decision must be taken within 3 months (for an EMI licence to engage in restricted activities - within 2 months) of the receipt of the additional documents and data.

The duration and level of scrutiny of documents is subject to the amount of activities the applicant plans to undertake, specified in the operating plan. Where the application is requested not for all services that can be provided under the EMI licence, the scope of provided data should be smaller; hence, the assessment could be faster.

All applicants for an EMI licence have direct access to Bank of Lithuania specialists, who are experts in assessing submitted documents. We are on hand to take applicants through the authorisation process, inform about the progress of the process, and aim to ensure a cooperation-based relationship between the Bank of Lithuania and financial market participants during both the authorisation process and after it.

Documents and information to be submitted to the Bank of Lithuania in order to be granted a licence of an EMI

In order to receive an EMI licence, the company must submit to the Bank of Lithuania an application form and documents specified therein (Annex 1 to the Rules on the Licensing of Electronic Money and Payment Institutions).

Documents and information to be submitted to the Bank of Lithuania in order to be granted an EMI licence to engage in restricted activities

In order to receive an EMI licence to engage in restricted activities, the company must submit to the Bank of Lithuania an application form and documents specified therein (Annex 3 to the Rules on the Licensing of Electronic Money and Payment Institutions).

Laws and legal acts regulating the activities and authorisation of EMI

² – Lithuanian consolidated version valid as of 1 March–30 June 2017. English version last amended on 12 March 2015.

³ – Lithuanian consolidated version valid as of 1 November 2016. English version last amended on 14 October 2014.

⁴ – Lithuanian consolidated version valid as of 1 August 2018. English version last amended on 20 August 2018.

⁵ – Lithuanian consolidated version valid as of 1 August 2018. English version last amended on 20 August 2018.

⁶ –Lithuanian consolidated version valid as of 1 December 2016. English version last amended on 17 January 2008.

⁷ – Lithuanian consolidated version valid as of 7 March 2012. English version last amended on 24 December 2009.

⁸ – Lithuanian consolidated version valid as of 20 December 2022. English version last amended on 30 January 2023.

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Last update: 30-07-2024