Payhawk, the global spend management solution, has obtained a licensed Electronic Money Institution (EMI) status in the United Kingdom.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) granted the license following a thorough evaluation of Payhawk’s compliance, financial standing, and operational processes.
The new UK EMI license will enable Payhawk to directly issue electronic money, facilitate digital payments and provide card issuance and payment solutions to new and existing UK customers.
This development marks a pivotal moment for Payhawk as it expands its capabilities to serve the UK market more comprehensively.
The FCA’s approval is a testament to Payhawk’s commitment to regulatory adherence and excellence in financial services
The company, already holding an EMI license covering the EEA, is also a principal member of Visa Europe and boasts accreditations from ICAEW’s Technology Accreditation program.
Hristo Borisov, CEO and co-founder of Payhawk, expressed enthusiasm about reaching this crucial milestone. He said, “We are thrilled to achieve another important milestone in our journey to make managing business payments easy — for everyone. Our company’s strong product DNA allows us to quickly launch new, high-quality features for our customers, and the new UK license unlocks new possibilities for us.
“By controlling more of the payment process stack for our customers, we can optimise the infrastructure to address the needs of our client base — further accelerating development velocity and innovation. This is a major step in our ambition to become the preferred global spend management company by combining our cutting-edge software with regulated payment services,” continued Borisov.
Pedro Batista, Chief Executive Officer of Payhawk Financial Services UK, added, “We are extremely proud of receiving our e-money license in the United Kingdom and receiving the trust of the FCA, which, in our view, has one of the highest benchmarks of regulators worldwide and traditionally sets the tone of financial regulation globally. This confirms our commitment to providing regulated financial services of the highest standard.”
In recent months, Payhawk has also bolstered its leadership team with strategic hires, including Gareth Walsh as Group Chief Compliance Officer, Maor Fishman as General Counsel, and Pedro Batista as CEO of Payhawk Financial Services UK.
These executives bring extensive experience from regulated financial institutions, further strengthening Payhawk’s position in the industry.
Commenting on the raft of appointments, Borisov said, “We are happy to welcome Gareth Walsh, a former executive at SumUp, who joined as Group Chief Compliance Officer. Maor Fishman who joined our group as a General Counsel from Checkout.com where he served the role of a Deputy General Counsel, and Pedro Batista who is in charge of our regulated activities in the UK as Chief Executive Officer of Payhawk Financial Services UK, and is also responsible for Payhawk’s global Payment & Operations division.”
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