Payment Provider Blog

Guides, reviews, and industry analysis to help you navigate the world of payment processing.

July 30, 2026 Industry Analysis

Amazon quietly becomes a UK e-money institution — with two telling restrictions

Amazon Payments UK Limited is an FCA-authorised electronic money institution as of 15 July 2026 (FRN 1041721) — unannounced and unreported. The grant bars agents, distributors and AIS/PIS, and Amazon's Luxembourg EMI now shows as cancelled on the UK register. Spotted by License Watch.

4 min read
July 30, 2026 Industry Analysis

BNY's MiCA licence made headlines — the register says Belgium-only, custody-only

BNY SA/NV was authorised as a MiCA CASP by the National Bank of Belgium on 20 July 2026. The coverage said EU-wide crypto services; ESMA's register lists one member state (Belgium) and two service codes (custody, transfer). What the register shows, and the TradFi pattern behind it.

4 min read
June 11, 2026 Industry Analysis

Brite Payments quietly secures a UK EMI licence from the FCA

Brite Payments is now an FCA-authorised electronic money institution in the UK (FRN 1033237, effective 21 April 2026). No press release, no coverage — the entry surfaced in License Watch, our register-monitoring feed. Here's what the register shows and why it matters.

4 min read
April 16, 2026 Industry Analysis

Cyprus as a Forex Hub: Payment Infrastructure for CySEC Brokers (2026)

Why the world's largest retail forex brokers cluster in Cyprus, what a CFD broker's payment stack actually needs to do, and which Cyprus-based and global providers — including Payabl, Payed, Gamingtec, SPAYZ.io, Skrill, NETELLER, and Currencycloud — serve the industry.

13 min read
April 5, 2026 Industry Analysis

PSD3 & PSR: What Every Payment Provider Needs to Know (2026 Compliance Guide)

The complete guide to PSD3 and PSR for payment providers. Timeline, SCA changes, fraud liability shift, Verification of Payee, open banking APIs, and a practical readiness checklist — based on the November 2025 provisional agreement.

18 min read