For a UK API licence, you apply to the FCA with a UK-incorporated company, initial capital of €20,000, €50,000 or €125,000 depending on the services, and a non-refundable fee of £2,820 or £5,640. Since 7 May 2026, new safeguarding rules also apply. An API does not cover crypto: that needs a separate FCA registration.
Four numbers to read before you apply
If you are still deciding between an e-money licence and a payment licence, start with licence selection and the EMI vs API vs MPI comparison. This page is about the UK application itself: which route, what the FCA asks for, what it costs, and where the licence stops. Figures were read on 27 October 2026.
The four things to know
- Small payment institution (SPI) registration costs £1,130 but caps you at €3m a month and rules out payment initiation and account information.
- Initial capital is the highest tier among the services you provide, not the sum of them.
- Since 7 May 2026, APIs must reconcile safeguarded funds daily, keep a resolution pack and file a monthly safeguarding return.
- Of 393 crypto registration applications the FCA has decided since 2020, 68 were registered.
On this page7 sections
Do you need a full API, or will small PI registration do?
Registration as a small payment institution is the lighter route. Under the FCA's payment institution guidance, an SPI's average monthly payment transactions over the preceding 12 months must not exceed €3m (a new firm uses its projection), and it may not provide account information services (AIS) or payment initiation services (PIS). Its application fee is £1,130, and the safeguarding rules apply to it only if it opts in.
An authorised payment institution (API) is the route once you expect to pass €3m a month, or want to offer AIS or PIS. If your customers hold balances with you that they can spend later, that is e-money and the right licence is an EMI, with €350,000 of initial capital.
What does an API application have to contain?
The main things the FCA asks for:
- A UK body corporate with its head office and registered office in the UK, carrying on some of its payment services business in the UK.
- Every qualifying holder registered: anyone with 10% or more of the capital or voting rights, or less with significant influence.
- Financial forecasts, including balance sheet forecasts and 2 stress-tested scenarios, with the initial capital and the ongoing capital calculation.
- Governance, internal controls and risk management, including a wind-down plan and your safeguarding arrangements.
- Policies written for your model. The FCA says they "shouldn’t be generic templates, they need to be tailored to your business model".
An incomplete file is not assessed at all. In the FCA's own words:
"We'll reject your submission without assessing it if you don't provide the minimum information we ask for."FCA, payment institution applicants
How much capital does a UK API licence need, at authorisation and after?
Initial capital is set by Schedule 3 of the Payment Services Regulations 2017, and the fee by the FCA's pricing categories:
UK payment institutions: initial capital and FCA application fee by service
| Service or licence type | Initial capital | FCA fee |
|---|---|---|
| Money remittance only (f) | €20,000 | £2,820 |
| Payment initiation (g) | €50,000 | £2,820 |
| Payment accounts, transfers, issuing payment instruments, acquiring (a) to (e) | €125,000 | £5,640 |
| Authorised e-money institution | €350,000 | £5,640 |
The fee is non-refundable. The number founders underestimate is what comes after authorisation: an own funds requirement, calculated by a method the FCA directs and adjustable up to 20% higher or lower. A start-up with no full financial year uses the projections in its own business plan. Take Method B, which runs off payment volume: a new API issuing cards and executing transfers that projects €60 million of payment transactions in year one has a monthly payment volume of €5,000,000, and 4% of that is €200,000 of own funds, already above its €125,000 initial capital. The same volume as money remittance only would need €100,000. An optimistic business plan raises the capital you must hold.
What changed for payment firms on 7 May 2026?
The FCA's safeguarding Supplementary Regime, set out in PS25/12, came into force. The figure the FCA leads with: firms that became insolvent between Q1 2018 and Q2 2023 had an average shortfall of 65% in funds owed to clients. Payment institutions safeguarded an estimated £6bn per day in 2024. For every API except firms doing only payment initiation or account information, the rules require:
- safeguarding reconciliations at least once each day, other than weekends, public holidays and days when relevant foreign markets are closed;
- a resolution pack, so funds can be returned quickly if the firm fails;
- a new monthly safeguarding return to the FCA;
- an annual safeguarding audit by a qualified auditor for firms holding more than £100,000 of relevant funds.
This is stage one. The planned end state would replace the PSRs' safeguarding provisions with a CASS-style regime, so a safeguarding section copied from a 2025 application is already out of date.
Can an API or EMI run crypto or stablecoin payments?
Not on that licence alone: crypto needs a separate FCA registration. The FCA's crypto registration page is explicit:
"Businesses already registered with or authorised by the FCA for other services (such as e-money institutions, payment institutions and firms authorised under FSMA) must also register with us under the MLRs if they intend to provide in scope cryptoasset services."FCA, Cryptoassets: who needs to register
FCA cryptoasset MLR registration outcomes, January 2020 to 1 October 2026
| Outcome | Applications | Share of decided |
|---|---|---|
| Registered | 68 | 17% |
| Withdrawn | 265 | 67% |
| Rejected | 46 | 12% |
| Refused | 14 | 4% |
| Decided in total | 393 |
Crypto registration is a Category 6 fee of £11,260, so an API doing services (a) to (e) that adds crypto pays £16,900 across the two applications. The ground is also moving. The Cryptoassets Regulations were passed by Parliament on 4 February 2026 and the FCA's new regime starts on 25 October 2027. Firms relying on the savings provisions must apply in a window that opened on 30 September 2026 and closes on 28 February 2027; apply later and you may need to cease the activity until authorised.
Stablecoin payments are not settled either. HM Treasury's consultation on modernising payment services, which closed on 6 October 2026, proposes a single set of regulated payment activities for tokenised and non-tokenised payments. An overseas firm marketing crypto to UK consumers is caught by the financial promotions regime wherever it is based. For card programmes built on someone else's licence, see who actually issues the card.
Is buying an existing UK payment institution quicker?
It changes the work, not the scrutiny. The FCA's change-in-control bands, starting at 10%, apply to payment and e-money institutions, so a buyer goes through the FCA's change-in-control process rather than simply taking over the licence. What to check before buying is in buying a ready-made licence.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum capital for a UK API licence?
It depends on the services: €20,000 for money remittance only, €50,000 for payment initiation, and €125,000 for payment accounts, transfers, card issuing or acquiring. Where you provide several, the highest tier applies. An authorised e-money institution needs €350,000.
How much is the FCA application fee for an API?
£2,820 if you only do money remittance, payment initiation or account information, and £5,640 for services (a) to (e). Small payment institution registration is £1,130. The fee is non-refundable.
Can a UK API offer crypto on-ramp or off-ramp services?
Not on the API alone. The FCA requires payment and e-money institutions to register separately under the MLRs for in-scope cryptoasset services, and a new authorisation regime starts on 25 October 2027.
This page reflects UK legislation and FCA publications as of October 2026 and is not legal advice. CryptoLicense is the licensing advisory brand of CL GLOBAL SDN BHD (1421939-T). UK API/EMI applications and UK bank account opening are among our services, and the group's UK company is Crypto Licence Ltd (Companies House 16303114). Whether a licence is granted, and how long a regulator takes, is at the regulator's discretion; we promise neither. See fintech licences and entity proof.
Related reading: Jurisdictions.