The Financial Regulator will be the competent authority in Ireland for the authorisation and supervision of Payment Institutions. Effective from 1 November 2009 Payment Institutions will be regulated institutions.
Each potential applicant must consider whether its proposed business model:
- requires authorisation pursuant to the Directive (including meeting the definition of ‘payment institution’ )
- complies with the Financial Regulator’s requirements and
- is capable of complying with, and adhering to, the requirements that must be satisfied on an ongoing basis
Having satisfactorily completed this consideration, the applicant must contact the Financial Regulator (Financial Institutions and Funds Authorisation Department) in order to arrange a preliminary meeting.
Prior to submitting an application for authorisation applicants are advised to meet with the Financial Regulator to discuss their outline proposal.
This serves a dual purpose enabling the Financial Regulator to familiarise itself with the background and business credentials of the applicant whilst identifying, at a critical stage, any potential issues with the proposed business.
Please refer to the 
Guidance Note entitled “Guidance Note on Completing and Submitting an Application for the:
- Authorisation as a Payment Institution under Article 10;
- Appointment of Agents under Article 17; and
- Establishment of Branches under Article 17
of EU Directive 2007/64/EC on Payment Services” for guidance in relation to the requirements of the Financial Regulator for establishing a payment institution in Ireland (including their agents and branches).
Applicants seeking authorisation under the Directive should submit the following material:
In completing an IQ, applicants are directed to the 
Fit and Proper Requirements. Applications that do not contain the key authorisation documents listed above will be regarded as incomplete and will be returned to the applicant.
The following document sets out the prudential supervision requirements for payment institutions authorised by the Financial Regulator and should be reviewed in advance of completing the application form: Guidance Note for Payment Institutions October 2009.
Each applicant should bear in mind the nature of its proposed business and structure in preparing an application for submission. The Financial Regulator will advise the applicant of any additional information or clarification required, having reviewed the documentation submitted, by issuing detailed written comments to the applicant or its legal representative, as appropriate.
An effective and expeditious authorisation process depends on the timeliness and quality of responses received to the Financial Regulator’s comments.
Please note that the above application documentation have been prepared on the basis of the draft European Communities (Payment Services) Regulations available at the time of preparation. In this regard it will be necessary to amend the application documentation to reflect amendments in the final Regulations which will issue later this year. Applicants will be advised of any required amendments.