EMI&PSP in Georgia

ELECTRONIC MONEY and PAYMENT PROVIDERS IN GEORGIA

In Georgia, the activitiesof electronic money companies are regulated by the Law “Payment system and payment services.”

Financial company, which received anelectronic money provider license of National Bank of Georgia has the right to provide the following services:

a) services providing debit funds from the payer’s account and the transactions related to its implementation;

b) services providing crediting of funds to the beneficiary’s account, and operations related to its implementation;

c) making payments via direct debit (including –one-time order) using a payment card or other electronic tools or credit transfer (including standing order) within its own resource amounts or credit payment service user;

d) issuance or (and) acquiring of payment instruments, including – electronic money instruments;

e) money transfers;

e) issuing electronic money, the implementation of payment transactions via electronic money using a mobile phone, Internet or other electronic tools;

g) Implementation of the payment transaction on the basis of agreement given by the payer via telecommunication, digital or information technology device against or in favor of the communication, information technology system or network operator, acting as a mediator between the payer and the recipient – the user and the supplier of goods or services.

The electronic money provider license in Georgia can be obtained by enterprise registered in Georgia as a limited liability company or a joint stock company. In this case the founders (shareholders) of the Georgian enterprises can be both residents and non-residents of Georgia.

Authorized capital

The minimal authorized capital requirement for the provider of electronic money is set at 250,000 lari (about 106 940 USD). At the time of submission of the application for a license to the National Bank of Georgia authorized capital must be declared a full.

Also, the authorized capital must be maintained at a specified level during the whole period of the company activity. In this case the National Bank of Georgia is empowered to install additional requirementsfor the payment service provider, if he or (and) the associated facewill exceed the amount of issued electronic money or the turnover of other payment services compared to the limits established by the National Bank of Georgia.

Staff Directors

Georgian legislation also does not establish strict requirements for the residence of members of the company’s financial controls. As well as in other jurisdictions, it is necessary to have no criminal record for such individuals.

The physical office

The legislation also does not contain strict rules regarding to a real office in the territory of Georgia. In fact the company may have a legal address in Georgia, but can be actually located in any other State.

However, the company with financial license in Georgia is required to keep financial records, be audited annually and submit tax reporting. Moreover, a provider of electronic money is obliged to notify the National Bank of Georgia, as well as itssystemoperator in case of reorganization, liquidation, proceedings for the bankruptcy case, the temporary suspension of the activity and any other circumstances that may affect the manipulation of the system by those persons or providing of payment services.

The territory of the license covers only Georgia, if a company makes a decision on entering the markets of other countries, it will have to undergo an additional verification of local regulators and obtain special permits/licenses.

Time for obtaining a license

Preparing complete set of documents takes about 1 month. The term of consideration of the application by the National Bank of Georgia is not more than 30 calendar days. Among other jurisdictions, this period is the smallestthat gives Georgia even more investmentattractiveness.

If the documentation submitted by the operator does not correspond to the requirements, the National Bank must provide to the interested party 30 calendar days to correct errors. Thereby a total period for license obtaining does not exceed 3 months.

The refusal of the interested partyinproviding additional information and documents requested by the National Bank during the term of the error correction and/or data verification, is considered as a reason for denial of registration.

The cost for obtaining a license

Cost of services 22,000 EUR

It does not include the selection of staff and taxes.

Bank account

Bank account of the financial company can be opened in any bank in any jurisdiction. The legislation contains no requirements for the jurisdiction of the company’s account. However, we would recommend opening the first account in one of the banks registered in Georgia. This will give more confidence to the Regulator when deciding whether to issue a license, as the regulator will not have suspicions that the funds will be fully withdrawn from Georgia.

If any help in obtaining a license for electronic money needed, please feel free to contact our specialists via phone numbers, listed on a web-page, or by submitting a form, located on the left side of the page or by the e-mail info@sb-sb.com

Key words: Obtaining a license for electronic money, a European license for electronic money, e-money license, PSP, EMI in Georgia Europe, license for electronic payments, Electronic money institution.