Our
experience

Establishment of a limited liability company to serve as the SPI

We have recently supported a client who asked us for assistance in setting up a limited liability company that would ultimately provide payment services as a Small Payment Institution (SPI).

The activity of an SPI is a regulated activity within the meaning of the Entrepreneurs Act. In order to be able to perform it, it is necessary to obtain an entry in the register of payment service providers and electronic money issuers maintained by the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC). Under the Payment Services Act, a Small Payment Institution may become:

• a natural person,
• a legal person,
• or a disabled legal person,

registered in the aforementioned register, carrying out activities with respect to any of the payment services other than the payment transaction initiation service or the account information access service.

A SPI may carry out activities such as:

• accepting cash deposits and making cash withdrawals from a payment account,
• execution of payment transactions, including by means of payment cards,
• the execution of direct debit or credit transfer services, or the issuance of payment instruments.

It should be borne in mind that for certain services, obtaining SPI status is not sufficient to operate. This is the case, in particular, with regard to payment services related to the granting of consumer credit, as an entry in the register of lending institutions, maintained by the FSA, is also required in order to carry out activities of this nature.

One of the first tasks of the law firm within the scope of advisory services was the creation of a limited liability company agreement together with the documentation necessary to submit an application for entry of the company into the National Court Register (KRS). It is worth emphasising that the partner of the company is a foreign company, which involved the need for the law firm to coordinate the process of obtaining the documentation required from the partner in a form acceptable under Polish law.

The stage of establishing the company proceeded very smoothly and the company obtained an entry in the National Court Register only 3 days after filing the application. Currently, the law firm is at the stage of creating the documentation required of Small Payment Institutions by the supervisory authority.
It is worth mentioning that in the past the law firm has repeatedly and successfully guided its clients through the process of obtaining Small Payment Institution status.