“Luxembourg is our home country and we’re proud to be part of its fintech community. It’s exciting to receive the first PIS license and we hope to open the way for many more players”, said Duke Prins, the CEO of Payconiq International.

The Grand Duchy is now one of a handful of EU countries that have so far issued a PIS license. Under the EU Payments Directive (PSD2), as Payment Initiation Services becomes a regulated activity, it opens possibilities for providers, like Payconiq International, to operate across the EU and to compete on an equal basis with other regulated players in the market.

Pierre Gramegna, the Minister of Finance of Luxembourg said on this occasion: “This first Payment Initiation Service license shows that Luxembourg is ready for the PSD2 area of open banking.” He added: “As a leading FinTech hub, Luxembourg is an ideal location for payment firms targeting a pan-European client base.”

An alternative to payment cards
As a payment initiation service provider, Payconiq International allows consumers to pay for their purchases and send money to their contacts through their smartphones, straight from their bank account.

The users authorise Payconiq to send a payment order to their bank. The bank executes it and Payconiq informs the merchant of the successful transaction. Everything happens in a matter of seconds. For users, paying with a Payconiq app is not just simple and quick, but also as safe as paying with their bank’s app. The same holds true when sending money to contacts.

“This license was a necessary step to expand our business from Benelux to Europe. Our ambition is to become Europe’s most wanted mobile payments solution. We are a real alternative to payment cards, as our users can make simple mobile payments on any device, just by having a bank account. We went the extra mile and obtained the PIS license to show our stakeholders that we’re committed to transforming our vision into reality”, explained Duke Prins.