What Is a PSD2 Licence? Why a Payment Licence Changes What a Crypto Exchange Can Do
- A PSD2 licence is an EU authorisation to provide payment services. It lets a non-bank firm move money and hold payment accounts, with an EEA passport.
- A MiCA CASP licence covers crypto services. A PSD2 licence covers payments. An exchange with both can run crypto and fiat under one regulated roof.
- Since March 2026, a stablecoin transfer for a client counts as a payment service. An exchange needs a payment licence to do it, on top of its crypto licence.
- A PSD2 licence adds safeguarding of client funds and strong customer authentication.
- Paybis holds both a MiCA CASP authorisation and a PSD2 Payment Institution licence from the Bank of Latvia.
When a crypto exchange says it holds a payment licence, it is easy to skip past. It sounds like one more piece of compliance detail. It is actually one of the more meaningful things an exchange can hold.
A crypto licence lets a platform trade and custody crypto. A payment licence lets it move money as a regulated payment service. Those are two different permissions, and the gap between them shapes what an exchange can offer you.
This guide explains what a PSD2 licence is and why a crypto exchange holding one changes what it can offer you.
What Is a PSD2 Licence?
A PSD2 licence is the EU authorisation that lets a non-bank firm provide regulated payment services. The holder is called a Payment Institution. It can move money for customers and passport those services across the EEA on a single licence.
PSD2 is the EU’s payment services framework, in force since 2018. A Payment Institution, or PI, licence sits between a full bank charter and a simple agent registration.
A PI can run credit transfers and direct debits. It can also hold funds in payment accounts. What it cannot do is take deposits or issue e-money, which need different licences.
The licence is granted by a national regulator and passports across the whole EEA. PSD2 is now moving toward its successor framework, PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation, expected to apply from around 2028. The idea of a payment licence stays central under the new rules.
What Can an Exchange Do With a PSD2 Licence That a CASP Licence Alone Does Not Allow?
A CASP licence lets an exchange offer crypto services. A PSD2 licence lets it offer payment services. With only a CASP licence, an exchange can trade and custody crypto. With a payment licence as well, it can move fiat and run payment flows as a regulated activity.
The two licences cover different ground. MiCA governs crypto-asset services. PSD2 governs payments. Neither one substitutes for the other, and a CASP licence on its own does not cover moving money.
This matters because most real products mix the two. A business paying contractors moves fiat in and crypto out. An exchange that holds both licences can run that whole flow itself. An exchange with only a crypto licence has to bolt on a separate payment provider for the fiat side.
For you, one licensed counterparty across both sides means fewer intermediaries and a cleaner money trail.
Why Do Stablecoin Transfers Now Need a Payment Licence?
Because the EU decided that moving a stablecoin for a client is a payment service. An e-money-token stablecoin is legally electronic money, so transferring it counts as payments. Since 2 March 2026, an exchange needs payment authorisation to keep offering those transfers.
Here is the background. A fiat-backed stablecoin such as USDC is an e-money token under EU rules. When an exchange moves it on your behalf, that looks like a payment rather than a plain crypto trade.
The European Banking Authority confirmed this view. A grace period let exchanges keep operating while the rules settled, and it closed on 2 March 2026. An exchange offering stablecoin transfers now needs its own payment or e-money licence, or a licensed payment partner.
So a payment licence is now part of what lets an exchange run compliant stablecoin payouts. Without it, that part of the service has to sit somewhere else.
What Protections Does a PSD2 Licence Add?
A PSD2 licence brings bank-style protections to payments. The main one is safeguarding, where client funds are ring-fenced from the firm’s own money and protected if it fails. It also requires strong customer authentication and fraud controls.
Safeguarding is the headline. A Payment Institution has to keep client funds separate from its own and place them where they are protected in an insolvency. Client money is held for the customer. It stays out of the firm’s own balance sheet.
There are further duties. Strong customer authentication adds a verification step to sensitive actions. Fraud reporting and own-funds requirements sit alongside it. These are the same kinds of controls that apply to banks and established payment firms.
| Licence | Move money | Issue e-money | Take deposits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Payment Institution (PSD2) | Yes | No | No |
| E-Money Institution | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bank | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Why Does an Exchange Having a Payment Licence Matter for Your Business?
It matters because it decides how much you can run through one regulated partner. An exchange with a payment licence can handle both your fiat and your crypto flows itself. That means fewer providers to integrate and one supervised counterparty for the whole payment.
Every extra provider in a payment chain adds cost and integration work, plus a point where something can break. An exchange that holds a payment licence removes one of those links.
There is also a trust signal. A payment licence tells you the exchange has met the same safeguarding and authentication standards as a payment firm. Banks and partners read it the same way. A licensed payment counterparty is easier to work with across the board.
Does Paybis Hold a PSD2 Licence?
Yes. Paybis holds a PSD2 Payment Institution licence from the Bank of Latvia, alongside full MiCA CASP authorisation from the same regulator, granted in May 2026. Both passport across all 27 EU member states.
That combination is the point of this article. The CASP licence covers Paybis’s crypto services. The Payment Institution licence covers the payment side. That includes the stablecoin transfers the EU now treats as payments.
Paybis runs business payouts through Paybis Send, its API-based payout product. Paybis has operated since 2014 and serves more than 7 million users across 180+ countries. Alongside its EU licences, it is registered with FinCEN in the United States and FINTRAC in Canada. It also holds a VASP registration in Poland and is PCI DSS certified.
Bottom Line
A payment licence changes what a crypto exchange is. With only a crypto licence, an exchange can trade and custody coins. With a payment licence as well, it can move money as a regulated payment service and run the stablecoin transfers the EU now treats as payments.
For a business, that is the difference between one regulated partner and a stack of providers. It is worth checking whether the exchange you build on holds a payment licence as well as a crypto one.
Paybis holds both a MiCA CASP authorisation and a PSD2 Payment Institution licence. You can build on Paybis Send knowing both the crypto and payment sides sit under one regulated provider.
FAQ
Is a PSD2 licence the same as a crypto licence?
No. A crypto licence, such as a MiCA CASP authorisation, covers crypto services. A PSD2 licence covers payments. An exchange can hold both.
Can a Payment Institution hold my money?
A Payment Institution can hold client funds in a payment account and must safeguard them. It keeps them separate from its own money and cannot take deposits like a bank.
Why would a crypto exchange want a payment licence?
To offer payment services alongside crypto, such as stablecoin transfers, without relying on an outside payment provider for the fiat side.
Is PSD2 being replaced?
PSD2 is moving toward PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation, expected to apply from around 2028. A payment licence stays central under the new framework.
Disclaimer: Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high‑risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more at: https://go.payb.is/FCA-Info
