Klarpay awarded FINMA license

FINMA has issued a FinTech license to the Zug-based start-up Klarpay, details of which can be found in a press release. This will allow the start-up to offer digital enterprises account and payment transactions services. This is aimed primarily at e-commerce operators as well as entrepreneurs active in the field of social media. According to information from the company itself, Klarpay is the first company in Switzerland to exclusively focus on this business segment.

With its offering, Klarpay is aiming to fill a gap in the financial market. Many banks are reticent to take on start-ups from areas such as e-commerce or social media because they fail to understand the business models involved. Among other things, Klarpay now plans to offer them more than 436 payment acceptance methods – and these services will be available in over 96 different regions. In addition, Klarpay is able to carry out transactions in more than 169 countries around the world, while the first customers are set to be onboarded in the second half of 2021.

The FinTech license was introduced specifically for start-ups in 2019. It is designed to reduce entry hurdles to the financial services market. Companies awarded this license are permitted to manage customer deposits of up to 100 million Swiss francs overall.