Multipass is a financial services provider offering global business accounts, multi-currency payments, and cross-border transaction solutions.
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Digital Banking
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Czech Republic · EMI (instituce elektronických peněz)
A white-label neobank stack for e-money institutions authorised by the Czech National Bank
In 2024 about one payment in three cleared through CERTIS, the Czech National Bank's koruna system, went as an instant payment. Czech users expect money to move in seconds, and your app will be judged on that. We provide the customer apps, the account logic and the back office, so your Prague team can focus on the licence and the customers.
- Branded web, iOS and Android apps
- E-money accounts in CZK and EUR
- Virtual and plastic cards via your issuer
- Back office for your Czech team
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What a Czech EMI can offer from launch
Koruna account with a euro side
A CZK e-money account for everyday spending and an EUR account for travel, online shopping and payments from abroad, both visible on one screen with their own history.
Cards ordered in the app
Customers get a virtual card straight away and can order plastic when they want one. They set limits and block the card themselves. You hold the contract with the card issuer.
Accounts for Czech small firms
Onboarding for companies and their owners through connected verification providers, extra users with their own rights and payment batches that need a second signature.
Euro payments to the rest of the EU
SEPA and SEPA Instant for euro transfers, useful for customers who earn or spend in the euro area while living in Czechia.
Savings goals kept as e-money
Vaults for setting money aside, clearly labelled as e-money without interest so nobody confuses them with a savings account.
What this licence does not cover
- Deposits or interest. Under the Czech Payment Services Act, funds received for e-money are not a deposit, so they fall outside bank deposit insurance.
- Lending financed with the money your customers hold as e-money.
- Growing as a small-scale e-money issuer. That route is limited to the Czech Republic and to an average of EUR 5 million in e-money outstanding.
What the regulator asks about your IT
Each requirement, what the platform gives you for it and who owns it after launch.
Back office roles so the management in Prague approves customers, limits and exceptions, with every action logged.
YouA clear list of the e-money and payment services the platform performs, as input for your business plan and budget for the first three years.
You, with your lawyersTechnical descriptions of the platform in English, organised so a translator can deliver the Czech version.
You, with our inputBalances held on a ledger you reconcile against the safeguarding method you choose, with exports your finance team checks every day.
Your finance teamTwo-factor verification for login and payment confirmation in the web and mobile apps.
CrassulaOnboarding questionnaires per client type, identity checks through connected providers and client limits. Screening and monitoring run in the tools you connect.
Your AML officerCustomer messages and transaction history in the back office, so your support team can trace a disputed payment quickly.
Your support teamArchitecture, hosting, subcontractors and exit information for your ICT documentation.
You, with our input
Payment rails and providers
Rails your customers can use
SEPA Credit TransferSEPA InstantSWIFTCZK payments through your bank (CERTIS)Card paymentsInternal transfers
24/7
real-time processing, no batch window
60+
payment and provider integrations connected
150+
companies run on Crassula
15+
languages the platform speaks
Dates to plan around
Rules that change what you have to build, in the order they apply.
17 Jan 2025
DORA applies to Czech EMIs. The CNB file should show how the app stack is covered by your ICT risk framework.
9 Apr 2027
Czech EMIs that offer euro credit transfers must be able to receive instant euro payments. This date is the same inside and outside the euro area.
9 Jul 2027
Sending instant euro payments and checking the payee name before a euro transfer goes out become mandatory too. EMIs in Slovakia or Austria face sending three months earlier and have checked payee names since October 2025.
9 Jun 2028
Until this date Czech providers may limit instant euro payments sent from koruna accounts outside business hours.
Around 2028
PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation are expected to apply, merging the e-money regime into the payment institution rules.
Preparing an EMI application for the Czech National Bank? Involve us early.
The CNB accepts the application only in electronic form, through a data box or e-mail with a recognised electronic signature, and charges CZK 50,000 to receive it. A file that answers the IT questions at the first attempt saves months. We set up the environment and write those sections with you.
01
A platform you can demonstrate
A configured environment to show the regulator, not slides.
02
The technical part of your application, prepared
IT systems and security, ICT risk and DORA, outsourcing and business continuity sections for your CNB file, written for translation into Czech.
03
Providers lined up
Banking, safeguarding and KYC providers from our network, matched to your licence.
Crassula provides technology and documentation support. We do not provide legal or regulatory advice and cannot guarantee the outcome of an application.
A Prague e-money launch
Think of a team in Prague building an account for freelancers who invoice clients in Germany and Austria in euro but pay rent and taxes in koruna. Their demo for the CNB shows a CZK and an EUR account side by side, a virtual card and a SEPA Instant payment arriving in seconds.
During the review the team agrees safeguarding with a Czech bank and decides how koruna payments will run through it. Direct participation in CERTIS stays on the list for later, once volumes justify the extra operational work.
Licence background: the Czech EMI and PI guide and our overview of EMI licensing in the EU.
Read the licence guides
FAQ
The administrative fee for receiving an application for an e-money institution authorisation is CZK 50,000. Initial capital must be at least EUR 350,000.
The Payment Services Act gives the CNB three months from the start of the proceedings, which is the day the application arrives. If documents are missing, the CNB can ask for them and the process takes longer in practice.
The Czech Administrative Procedure Code makes Czech the language of the proceedings, with Slovak also accepted. Documents in other languages need an officially certified Czech translation unless the CNB says it does not require one. Our English technical sections are easy to hand to a translator.
Yes. The current CERTIS rules list payment and e-money institutions among eligible direct participants. The CNB has said such accounts serve payments only, may not be used to safeguard client funds and come without intraday credit. Whether to connect directly is your decision, and we scope the connection with you.
Czech banks use a CNB registry that matches mobile numbers to account numbers, open only to direct CERTIS participants. The platform runs payments by account number and IBAN. A phone number service would follow from your CERTIS set-up.
For a domestic pilot it can be. The CNB fee is CZK 10,000, but average e-money outstanding in the Czech Republic may not exceed EUR 5 million and there is no EU passport. An app aiming beyond that should apply for the full licence from the start.
