Mobile payment specialists Payconiq disclosed that the firm has obtained the first payment initiation service (PIS) license in Luxembourg.
Acquiring the license to operate as a payment initiation service provider enables Payconiq International to offer its customers the ability to pay for their purchases and send money to their contacts through their smartphones, directly from their bank account.
“Luxembourg is our home country and we’re proud to be part of its fintech community. It’s exciting to receive the first PIS license and we hope to open the way for many more players,” commented Duke Prins, CEO, Payconiq International.
The PIS licence is a regulatory step under the payment services directive 2 (PSD2), which broadened the first directive’s scope to take into account innovative new payment initiation services typically used to make online payments and enhancing the competition between other regulated players.
Minister of Finance of Luxembourg Pierre Gramegna, said : “This first Payment Initiation Service license shows that Luxembourg is ready for the PSD2 area of open banking.”
“As a leading FinTech hub, Luxembourg is an ideal location for payment firms targeting a pan-European client base.”
Users authorise Payconiq to send a payment order to their bank, the bank then executes the transaction and Payconiq informs the merchant of the successful transaction in real-time.
“This license was a necessary step to expand our business from Benelux to Europe. Our ambition is to become Europe’s most wanted mobile payments solution,” continued Prins.
“We are a real alternative to payment cards, as our users can make simple mobile payments on any device, just by having a bank account. We went the extra mile and obtained the PIS license to show our stakeholders that we’re committed to transforming our vision into reality.”
