Nium receives licence to issue e-money and provide cross-border digital payments in the UK after Brexit

September 02, 2020

The Financial Conduct Authority has given Singaporean FinTech Nium an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence.

Armed with the new licence, Nium is now authorised to issue e-money and provide cross-border digital payment services in the UK beyond the Brexit.

The company already has similar authorisation to operate within the European Union. In fact, Nium inked a deal with Visa to become a European card issuer in July, having signed a similar deal with Visa in Australia in June.

Nium also has licences to operate in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and the United States.

The news comes as the UK is heading towards its exit from the European union on January 1, 2021.

However, FinTech stakeholders have expressed their concerns about Britain’s divorce from the EU.

For instance, Ali Niknam, founder and CEO of Dutch neobank bunq, said in July that he believes companies in the sector may decide to leave the UK if the market uncertainties surrounding Brexit continues.

Niknam’s statement came a day after US stocktrading app Robinhood announced that it would cancel its plans to open in the UK.

In June, a survey from Coupa Software revealed that 83% of European financial leaders wanted Brexit to be delayed until the problems of Covid-19 had been handled appropriately.

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