UK FinTech Lanistar has secured Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval to operate as an Electronic Money Directive (EMD) agent of payments business Modulr.
Lanistar had originally planned to secure a full banking licence for its product, which is a debit card that links up to eight bank cards to aid customers in better managing their finances via open banking.
However, the company was told it was unable to operate in the UK last November after the FCA revealed Lanistar was providing services and products in the UK without authorisation.
This development was compounded by findings earlier this year that Lanistar was failing to pay its employees on time and its staff were suffering from low morale and being made redundant.
Following the authorisation as an EMD agent, Lanistar is now able to distribute and redeem electronic money on behalf of Modulr. This means it can offer its customers digital accounts to send and receive payments.
Lanistar intends to launch its banking product later this year and has promoted its vision to become a ‘£10bn FinTech’ at some point in the future. The company is also planning to expand out of the UK to the EU and Brazil. In March 2020, Lanistar netted £2m in its seed funding round.
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