Licensing, approval proceedings and entry in the register – Payment service providers and electronic money issuers
The requirements for applications and notifications for the performance of activities of payment institutions, electronic money institutions, account information service providers, small-scale payment service providers and small-scale electronic money issuers submitted pursuant to Act No. 370/2017 Coll., on Payment Systems, are regulated by Decree No 1/2022 Coll., on applications and notifications to perform activities pursuant to the Payment System Act.
Applications can only be submitted electronically, either via a data box or by e-mail with a recognised electronic signature to the CNB’s at podatelna@cnb.cz (CNB contacts). The CNB recommends using the forms available below.
The CNB’s website also provides explanations and answers to frequently asked questions related to the performance of activities of persons carrying on activities under the Payment System Act. All relevant legislation and methodological information is also available in the Article Legislation – Payment institutions, electronic money institutions, small-scale payment service providers and small-scale electronic issuers (including additional English versions).
The Act
Decrees
- Decree No. 1/2022 Coll. of 19 December 2018 (external link, available in Czech only)
- Decree No. 394/2024 Coll. of 9 December 2022 (pdf, 129 kB) amending Decree No 1/2022 Coll., on applications and notifications to perform activities pursuant to the Payment System Act, as amended by Decree No 151/2022 Coll., and Decree No 7/2018 Coll., on some conditions on the pursuit of business of payment institutions, payment account information administrators, small-scale payment service providers, electronic money institutions and small-scale electronic money issuers, as amended
- Decree No. 151/2022 Coll. of 2 June 2022 (pdf, 199 kB) amending Decree No. 1/2022 Coll. on applications and notifications to perform activities pursuant to the Payment System Act, and Decree No. 7/2018 Coll. on the pursuit of business of payment institutions, account information service providers, electronic money institutions, small-scale payment service providers and small-scale electronic money issuers as amended by Decree No. 2/2022 Coll.
- Decree No. 1/2022 Coll. of 22 December 2021 (pdf, 290 kB, applicable from 1 July 2022), on applications and notifications to perform activities pursuant to the Payment System Act
- Decree No. 7/2018 Coll. of 19 December 2018 (pdf, 416 kB, as of 1 July 2022) (as of 1 July 2022 – working material, comprehensive version)
- Decree No. 394/2024 Coll. of 9 December 2022 (pdf, 129 kB) amending Decree No 1/2022 Coll., on applications and notifications to perform activities pursuant to the Payment System Act, as amended by Decree No 151/2022 Coll., and Decree No 7/2018 Coll., on some conditions on the pursuit of business of payment institutions, payment account information administrators, small-scale payment service providers, electronic money institutions and small-scale electronic money issuers, as amended
- Decree No. 151/2022 Coll. of 2 June 2022 (pdf, 199 kB) amending Decree No. 1/2022 Coll. on applications and notifications to perform activities pursuant to the Payment System Act, and Decree No. 7/2018 Coll. on the pursuit of business of payment institutions, account information service providers, electronic money institutions, small-scale payment service providers and small-scale electronic money issuers as amended by Decree No. 2/2022 Coll.
- Decree No. 2/2022 Coll. of 22 December 2022 (external link, available in Czech only) amending Decree No. 7/2018 Coll., on the pursuit of business of payment institutions, account information service providers, electronic money institutions, small-scale payment service providers and small-scale electronic money issuers
- Decree No. 7/2018 Coll. of 5 January 2018 (pdf, 268 kB) on the pursuit of business of payment institutions, account information service providers, electronic money institutions, small-scale payment service providers and small-scale electronic money issuers
Selected European Union legislation
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/2055 (external link) supplementing Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards for the cooperation and exchange of information between competent authorities relating to the exercise of the right of establishment and the freedom to provide services of payment institutions.
Official information and methodological documents
- Official information of 5 August 2020 (pdf, 255 KB) regarding the interpretation of the terms trustworthiness and competence
- Official information of 7 July 2008 (pdf, 145 KB, available in Czech only) announcing the Czech National Bank’s practice on extracts or copies of criminal records from the Criminal Register Office.
General EBA Guidelines
Methodology
Application forms and notifications
- Decree No 1/2022 Coll. (hereinafter referred to as “the Decree”) lists the requirements for applications for a permit to operate as a payment institution, electronic money institution or account information service provider. The CNB points out that the General Guidelines on applications for authorisation – see above – should be taken into account at the same time. These guidelines provide applicants with a more detailed overview of the data and facts relating to the information requested as set out in the Decree.
- Before completing the trustworthiness assessment form, it is necessary to familiarise yourself with the Official Information of the Czech National Bank on the interpretation of the concepts of trustworthiness (pdf, 255 KB), in particular with the criteria for assessing trustworthiness set out on page 6 of that Official Information. In the event of a positive answer to any of the questions in the trustworthiness assessment form, it is necessary to provide data and documents or propose other evidence that will enable the CNB to make the assessment referred to on page 6 of the Official Notice.
A. Payment institutions
- Application for authorisation to operate as a payment institution (available in Czech only) (docx, 26 KB, pdf, 302 KB)
- Mandatory annexes pursuant to Article 3 of the Decree; definition of terms pursuant to Article 2 of the Decree (available in Czech only) (pdf, 492 KB)
- Application for extension of authorisation to operate as a payment institution (available in Czech only) (docx, 24 KB, pdf, 294 KB)
- Mandatory annexes pursuant to Article 5 of the Decree; definition of terms pursuant to Article 2 of the Decree (available in Czech only) (pdf, 492 KB)
- Notification of the intention to acquire or increase a qualified holding or control in a payment institution (available in Czech only) (docx, 25 KB, pdf, 307 KB)
- Document related to the acquisition of a qualified holding (available in Czech only) (docx, 22 KB, pdf, 163 KB)
- Notification of changes to the information provided in the application for authorisation to operate as a payment institution (available in Czech only) (docx, 22 KB, pdf, 287 KB)
- Mandatory annexes pursuant to Article 4 of the Decree; definition of terms pursuant to Article 2 of the Decree (available in Czech only) (pdf, 492 KB)
- Notification of a payment institution of the intention to entrust the performance of certain operational activities to another person (available in Czech only) (docx, 23 KB, pdf, 294 KB)
- Mandatory annexes pursuant to Article 20 of the Decree; definition of terms pursuant to Article 2 of the Decree (available in Czech only) (pdf, 492 KB)
- Other forms
- Document for the assessment of the trustworthiness of a natural person (docx, 34 kB, pdf, 224 kB)
- Document for the assessment of the trustworthiness of a legal entity (docx, 32 kB, pdf, 224 kB)
- Performance of the activities of a payment institution in the host Member State in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2017/2055
- Annex II – Application for a passport notification for a branch of a payment institution and an electronic money institution (docx, 28 KB, pdf, 121 KB)
- Annex III – Application for a passport notification for a payment institution and an electronic money institution using authorised representatives (docx, 30 KB, pdf, 114 KB)
- Annex V – Application for a passport notification based on the free movement of services without using an authorised representative or distributor (docx, 24 KB, pdf, 37 KB)
- Annex VI – Notification of the commencement of passporting activities of a branch/agent/distributor by a payment institution and an electronic money institution (docx, 21 KB, pdf, 106 KB)
B. Account information service provider
- Application for authorisation to act as an account information service provider (available in Czech only) (docx, 22 kB, pdf, 289 kB)
- Mandatory annexes pursuant to Article 6 of the Decree; definition of terms pursuant to Article 2 of the Decree (available in Czech only) (pdf, 492 KB)
- Notification of changes to the information provided in the application for authorisation to act as an account information service provider (available in Czech only) (docx, 22 KB, pdf, 290 KB)
- Mandatory annexes pursuant to (Article 7 of the Decree; definition of terms pursuant to Article of the Decree (available in Czech only) (pdf, 492 KB))
- Other forms
- Document for the assessment of the trustworthiness of a natural person (docx, 34 kB, pdf, 224 kB)
- Document for the assessment of the trustworthiness of a legal entity (docx, 32 kB, pdf, 224 kB)
- Performance of the activities of the account information service provider in the host Member State in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/2055. Notifications of the intention of an account information service provider to provide a payment service in the host Member State shall be made on the form provided for payment institutions (PIs).
- Annex II – Application for passport notification for a branch of a payment institution and an electronic money institution (docx, 28 kB, pdf, 121 kB)
- Annex III – Application for passport notification for a payment institution and electronic money institution using authorised representatives (docx, 30 kB, pdf, 114 kB)
- Annex V – Application for passport notification based on the free movement of services without using an authorised representative or distributor (docx, 24 kB, pdf, 37 kB)
- Annex VI – Notification of the commencement of passporting activities of a branch/agent/distributor by a payment institution and an electronic money institution (docx, 21 kB, pdf, 106 kB)
C. Electronic money institutions
- Application for authorisation to operate as an electronic money institution (available in Czech only) (docx, 26 kB, pdf, 304 kB)
- Application for extension of authorisation for an electronic money institution (available in Czech only) (docx, 24 kB, pdf, 295 kB)
- Notification of the intention to acquire or increase a qualified holding in, or take control of, an electronic money institution (available in Czech only) (docx, 25 kB, pdf, 307 kB)
- Mandatory annexes pursuant to Article 17 of the Decree; definition of terms pursuant to Article 2 of the Decree (available in Czech only) (pdf, 492 KB)
- Document related to the acquisition of a qualified holding (available in Czech only) (docx, 22 kB, pdf, 163 kB)
- Notification of changes to information provided in the application for authorisation to operate as an electronic money institution (available in Czech only) (docx, 22 kB, pdf, 286 kB)
- Notification by an electronic money institution of its intention to entrust the performance of certain operational activities to another person (available in Czech only) (docx, 29 kB, pdf, 188 kB)
- Other forms
- Document for the assessment of the trustworthiness of a natural person (docx, 34 kB, pdf, 224 kB)
- Document for the assessment of the trustworthiness of a legal entity (docx, 32 kB, pdf, 224 kB)
- Performance of the activities of an electronic money institution in the host Member State in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2017/2055
- Annex II – Application for a passport notification for a branch of a payment institution and an electronic money institution (docx, 28 kB, pdf, 121 kB)
- Annex III – Application for passport notification for a payment institution and an electronic money institution using authorised representatives (docx, 30 kB, pdf, 114 kB)
- Annex IV – Application for passport notification for an electronic money institution using distributors (docx, 23 kB, pdf, 101 kB)
- Annex V – Application for passport notification based on the free movement of services without using an authorised representative or distributor (docx, 24 kB, pdf, 37 kB)
- Annex VI – Notification of commencement of passporting activities of a branch/agent/distributor by a payment institution and an electronic money institution (docx, 21 kB, pdf, 106 kB)
D. Small-scale payment service provider
- Application for authorisation to operate as a small-scale payment service provider (available in Czech only) (docx, 27 kB, pdf, 306 kB)
- Mandatory annexes pursuant to Article 8 of the Decree; definition of terms pursuant to Article 2 of the Decree (available in Czech only) (pdf, 492 KB)
- Application for extension of the authorisation to operate as a small-scale payment service provider(available in Czech only) (docx, 28 kB, pdf, 302 kB)
- Notification of changes to the information provided in the application for authorisation to operate as a small-scale payment service provider (available in Czech only) (docx, 22 kB, pdf, 290 kB)
- Mandatory annexes pursuant to Article 9 of the Decree; definition of terms pursuant to Article 2 of the Decree (available in Czech only) (pdf, 492 KB)
- Other forms
- Document for the assessment of the trustworthiness of a natural person (docx, 34 kB, pdf, 224 kB)
- Document for the assessment of the trustworthiness of a legal entity (docx, 32 kB, pdf, 224 kB)
E. Small-scale electronic money issuer
- Application for authorisation to operate as a small-scale electronic money issuer (available in Czech only) (docx, 25 kB, pdf, 302 kB)
- Application for the extension of the authorisation to operate as a small-scale electronic money issuer (available in Czech only) (docx, 25 kB, pdf, 299 kB)
- Notification of changes to the information provided in the application for a small-scale electronic money issuer licence (available in Czech only) (docx, 22 kB, pdf, 287 kB)
- Other forms
- Document for the assessment of the trustworthiness of a natural person (docx, 34 kB, pdf, 224 kB)
- Document for the assessment of the trustworthiness of a legal entity (docx, 32 kB, pdf, 224 kB)
F. Authorised representative
- Entry in the list of agents (REGIS)
- Annex to the application for entry in the list of agents (xls, 167 KB)
- Methodology for completing the application (available in Czech only) (pdf, 348 kB)
- XML interface structure diagram for validating the application for entry in the list of agents (zip, 10 kB)
G. Dynamic currency conversion service provider
- Application for authorisation to operate as a dynamic currency conversion service provider (available in Czech only) (docx, 23 kB, pdf, 283 kB)
- Mandatory annexes pursuant to Article 21a of the Decree; definition of terms pursuant to Article 2 of the Decree-(available in Czech only) (pdf, 492)
- Notification of changes to the information provided in the application for authorisation to operate as a dynamic currency conversion service provider (available in Czech only) (docx, 22 kB, pdf, 290 kB)
- Mandatory annexes pursuant to Article 21b of the Decree; definition of terms pursuant to Article 2 of the Decree (available in Czech only) (pdf, 492)
- Other forms
- Document for the assessment of the trustworthiness of a natural person (docx, 34 kB, pdf, 224 kB)
- Document for the assessment of the trustworthiness of a legal entity (docx, 32 kB, pdf, 224 kB)