Digital Banking

Spain · EMI (entidad de dinero electrónico)

Digital banking for e-money institutions in Spain

A customer in Spain measures your app against their bank's, Bizum included. Launch apps in your brand, accounts, cards and instant transfers on a platform you can show the Banco de España while it reviews your application.

  • Web, iOS and Android apps in your brand
  • Interface and notifications in Spanish
  • Cards and SEPA Instant in the app
  • Technical file for the Banco de España
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Back-office dashboard with accounts and balances
Mobile banking app in your brand

Case Studies

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Multipass is a financial services provider offering global business accounts, multi-currency payments, and cross-border transaction solutions.

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Multipass Case study
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Paysend & Crassula - a banking solution for international companies

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LuxPay is at the forefront of providing advanced financial services, designed to meet the needs of modern businesses and consumers alike.

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Wickie offers secure and scalable fiat and cryptocurrency payment solutions, providing users with digital wallets and seamless financial services across multiple platforms.

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What a Spanish EMI can offer its customers

An everyday e-money account

Sign-up from the phone, an IBAN, direct debits for household bills and SEPA transfers. The balance is e-money, and the contract says so.

Debit and prepaid cards

A virtual card at sign-up and a plastic one when the customer asks, with limits, freezes and PIN in the app. Your institution signs the contract with the issuer.

Instant transfers

SEPA Instant from the app, with the name and IBAN that Verification of Payee needs before sending.

Mobile banking app with a branded Visa card added to Apple Wallet
Mobile banking app home screen with balance, Add money and Send buttons

Vaults and alerts

Vaults to put money aside without interest, push notifications for every charge and a history the customer can search and export.

Accounts for sole traders and SMEs

Onboarding for autónomos and companies, several users with permissions, batch payments with approval and saved counterparties for suppliers.

Open banking

PSD2 consents so customers can connect aggregators and invoicing software to their account.

What this licence does not cover

  • Bank deposits. E-money is not covered by the Spanish Deposit Guarantee Fund, and the app must not suggest it is.
  • Interest on e-money balances, vaults included.
  • Credit funded from safeguarded money. Law 21/2011 only allows credit tied to payment services, never from those funds.
  • Bizum out of the box. Bizum is owned by Spanish banks, and the platform is not connected to it.

What the regulator asks about your IT

Each requirement, what the platform gives you for it and who owns it after launch.

E-money balance per customer and issue date, so you can check that funds received through a payment instrument, such as a card top-up, are safeguarded no later than five business days after issue.

Your finance team, on platform data

Architecture, hosting, two-factor login, roles, audit trail and recovery plan, written up for your application.

Crassula drafts, you sign off

Onboarding questionnaires per customer type, identity checks through connected providers and per-customer limits. Analysis and reports to SEPBLAC stay with you.

Your internal control body

Two-factor login and payment confirmation on web, iOS and Android.

Crassula

Service description, subcontractors, audit and access rights and an exit plan.

You, with our input

Interface, notifications and in-app documents in Spanish, with your own terms and fees loaded.

You, with your lawyers

Reporting endpoints and exports of balances, transactions and customers as the data source. You prepare and submit the returns.

You, on platform data
Compliance documents card with created, sent, verification and accepted steps

Payment rails and providers

Rails your customers can use

SEPA Credit TransferSEPA InstantSEPA Direct DebitSWIFTCard 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 e-money institutions: an ICT risk framework, reporting of major incidents and a register of ICT providers.

9 Oct 2025

Every euro area EMI offers Verification of Payee on all credit transfers, free of charge to the payer.

9 Apr 2027

Euro area EMIs must be able to send and receive SEPA instant payments.

10 Jul 2027

The EU AMLR applies, adding EU-wide due diligence rules on top of Law 10/2010.

Applying to the Banco de España as an EMI? Name us in your file.

The Banco de España decides after a report from SEPBLAC, and if no decision arrives in time the application counts as refused. A solid technical file and a working platform cut down the back and forth, and we prepare that part 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

Systems, security, outsourcing, ICT risk under DORA and business continuity sections of your Banco de España file.

03

Providers lined up

Banking, safeguarding and KYC providers from our network, matched to your licence.

Talk to us about your application

Crassula provides technology and documentation support. We do not provide legal or regulatory advice and cannot guarantee the outcome of an application.

Policy document prepared for a licence application
Card over euro, pound and dollar balances

How a launch usually runs

A team in Valencia wants to launch an account for gig workers who get paid weekly. Before filing through the Banco de España's online office, we set up an environment in its brand: Spanish onboarding, a virtual card, vaults and an alert for every payment received.

While the Banco de España and SEPBLAC review the file, the team connects its safeguarding bank and card issuer and tests the five-business-day control for card top-ups on dummy data. Once authorised and entered in the register, the same platform opens to the first customers.

For the regulatory side, read our Spain EMI and PI guide and the overview of e-money institutions in the EU.

Read the licence guides

FAQ

Law 21/2011 sets three months from receipt of the application or from when the documentation is complete. If no express decision is notified in that time, the application is treated as refused, so file a complete application from the start.

Minimum initial capital of EUR 350,000, plus sufficient own funds for the business volume. Our Spain guide goes into more detail.

Bizum is run by a company owned by Spanish banks, and access for an EMI is not automatic. If it matters to your proposition, talk to Bizum before launch. The platform is not connected to Bizum. SEPA Instant with Verification of Payee covers instant payments by IBAN.

Funds received for e-money are kept separate and placed with a credit institution or in safe, liquid assets. Funds arriving through a payment instrument, such as a card top-up, must be safeguarded within five business days of issue. Using insurance or a guarantee needs Banco de España approval.

Yes, through the EU passport, after notifying the Banco de España of each host country. The app is already translated into more than 15 languages.

No. Many clients start with a licensed partner. This page is for teams that hold or are applying for Banco de España authorisation as an e-money institution.

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