You can see the rules and regulations in other jurisdictions.
A business's authorisation, registration and conduct of business obligations will be governed by the regime implemented in the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSRs) where its activities relate to providing payment services. Section IV discusses these aspects in more detail.1
Firms will often seek FCA authorisation even if they will not serve customers in the UK to benefit from the halo effect of being a UK-regulated company when considering international expansion.1
Under the Payment Services Regulations (PSRs) in the UK, services associated with payment accounts (i.e., money deposits and withdrawals from current or savings accounts), payment transactions (whether by credit agreement or otherwise), card issuing and money remittance are all regulated. The implementation of the second Payment Services Directive (PSD II) in 2017 also introduced two previously undefined operations - payment initiation service providers (PISPs) and account information service providers (AISPs). These allow people to access information about their finances through Open Banking standards, as well as providing safe means to make payments without having to use a payment card.1
Firms offering payment services must identify if they will be applying for registration or authorisation under the PSRs. Small payment institutions (SPIs), small electronic money institutions (EMIs) and those providing just account information services can apply to register as such, or as a RAISP, with lighter obligations than most. Any other companies wishing to offer payment services in the UK must get authorised, but have increased regulatory requirements applied to them. These alternatives often prove popular when available.1
PSD II and the PSRs enabled Open Banking to be brought in, meaning that – with customer agreement – third parties can be granted access to user accounts and data. This currently applies only to the UK's nine biggest banks and building societies, although there are further smaller entities that have agreed to take part in the policy. As a result of this, PISPs and AISPs can use account data to provide their services.1
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