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Remittance and payout software for payment institutions licensed by the Czech National Bank

The CNB's own clearing system, CERTIS, now admits payment institutions as direct participants, so a Czech PI can settle koruna payments without a bank in the middle. Before that pays off, the transfer logic, the pricing and the sender data have to work every day. That part we run, whichever route your koruna takes.

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Case Studies

See what teams build with Crassula.

Money Transfer · Payment institution (platební instituce)

Transfer services a Czech PI can offer

Transfers abroad paid in koruna

Senders pay in CZK, choose a recipient in another country and confirm only after seeing the exchange rate, the fee and the amount the recipient will get.

Supplier and payroll payouts for firms

Czech importers and staffing agencies send many payments at once from a file or the API. A second user signs off the batch before anything leaves.

Margins that differ by corridor

Spreads and fees live in price lists per currency pair and client group, so CZK to EUR for business clients can carry another margin than CZK to UAH for individuals.

Payment accounts for repeat senders

Accounts used only to carry out transfers. The balance is presented as money waiting for payout, not as a wallet to spend from.

Traceable returns

Each transfer keeps a status history, so when a receiving bank rejects a payment your team can see where it stopped and send the money back to the right customer.

What this licence does not cover

  • E-money wallets that customers top up and spend from. That needs an e-money institution licence or the small-scale e-money issuer route.
  • Cross-border business as a small-scale payment service provider. That authorisation covers services in the Czech Republic only, with a monthly average of EUR 3 million in transactions.
  • Credit from the money customers entrust to you for transfers.
Your market

What the regulator asks about your IT

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

1Initial capital by service: EUR 20,000 for money remittance only, EUR 50,000 for payment initiation, EUR 125,000 for the other services

A precise list of the payment services the platform carries out, so the services in your application and your capital tier line up.

You, with your lawyers
2Registered and real head office in the Czech Republic, with at least part of the payment business there

Back office access for the Prague team to approve senders, corridors and payout batches, with a log of each decision.

You
3Client funds recorded separately and, after the business day following receipt, held on a separate account or in low-risk liquid assets, unless insurance or a comparable guarantee covers them

Per-transfer ledger entries that show which funds are still in transit after each cut-off, exported for your reconciliation.

Your finance team
4Payer and payee information attached to each transfer

Sender identity and address taken at onboarding and attached to every outgoing payment, with incoming data kept per transfer.

Shared
5Corridor risk assessment and due diligence under AML Act No. 253/2008 Coll.

Client limits per corridor and client type, and transfer exports for the screening and monitoring tools you connect.

Your AML officer
6Payee name check on euro transfers from 9 July 2027

Name and IBAN data handed to the verification of payee service you use, with the answer shown to the sender before confirmation.

You, with your rails provider
7Outsourcing arrangements and DORA register of information

Service description, data locations, subcontractors and exit terms for your outsourcing file and register.

You, with our input
Czech Republic

Payment rails and providers

Rails your customers can use

CZK payments through your bank or direct CERTIS accessSEPA InstantSEPA Credit TransferSWIFTInternal transfers
24/7real-time processing, no batch window
60+payment and provider integrations connected
150+companies run on Crassula
15+languages the platform speaks
Czech Republic

Dates to plan around

Rules that change what you have to build, in the order they apply.

  1. 18 Aug 2026

    Version 15 of the CERTIS rules took effect. It lists payment and e-money institutions among the firms that can be direct participants.

  2. 9 Apr 2027

    Czech payment institutions that offer euro credit transfers must be able to receive instant euro payments.

  3. 9 Jul 2027

    Sending instant euro payments and a payee name check on euro transfers become mandatory for them as well.

  4. 10 Jul 2027

    The EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation applies, replacing parts of the Czech due diligence rules with one EU text.

  5. Around 2028

    PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation are expected to apply. Expect the CNB to check existing authorisations against the new rules.

Payment institution (platební instituce)

Applying to the Czech National Bank for a PI licence? Name us in your file.

The CNB charges CZK 50,000 to receive a payment institution application and must decide within three months of the start of proceedings. We bring a running transfer platform and write the technical sections of the file around it.

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.

  1. 01

    A platform you can demonstrate

    A configured environment to show the regulator, not slides.

  2. 02

    The technical part of your application, prepared

    Payment flows, IT systems and security, ICT risk and DORA, outsourcing and continuity sections for your CNB file, ready for a Czech translation.

  3. 03

    Providers lined up

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

A business traveller checking a phone before a journey.
Money Transfer

A payout business in Brno

Imagine a team paying invoices for Czech e-commerce sellers who buy stock from suppliers in Poland, Germany and Asia. Sellers top up in koruna, the platform prices each payout at the corridor margin, and euro leaves over SEPA Instant while other currencies go over SWIFT through a connected provider.

The team starts with a bank collection account for koruna and models what direct CERTIS participation would change: no intraday credit, an account for payments only and separate safeguarding. They agree to revisit it once daily volumes make the operational work worthwhile.

Further reading: the Czech EMI and PI guide and how payment institution licences work.

Guides

Read the licence guides

Explore all guidesLicensing, payments, cards and core banking, explained by our team.
Czech Republic · Payment institution (platební instituce)

FAQ

The questions teams ask us before a first call.

Not covered here?Bring your question to a demo with our team.
What does a Czech payment institution licence cost?
The administrative fee for receiving the application is CZK 50,000, and CZK 20,000 for a later request to extend the licence. Initial capital ranges from EUR 20,000 for money remittance only to EUR 125,000 for the wider set of services.
Can a Czech PI settle koruna payments directly in CERTIS?
Yes. The CERTIS rules admit payment institutions as direct participants. The CNB has said these accounts are for payments only, cannot hold safeguarded client money and come without intraday credit, and applicants are tested before they are admitted. Connecting the platform to that route is a project we scope with you.
How must client funds be protected?
Keep them recorded apart from your own money. If they have not been paid out by the end of the business day after receipt, place them on a separate account at a bank, a central bank or a credit union, or invest them in low-risk liquid assets. Insurance or a comparable guarantee from a firm outside your group is the alternative.
What about the small-scale payment service provider route?
It needs a CNB authorisation as well, with a CZK 10,000 fee, but it is limited to services in the Czech Republic and a monthly average of EUR 3 million over 12 months. A remittance business sending money abroad from day one should apply as a full payment institution.
How fast do Czech customers expect koruna transfers to arrive?
In 2024 roughly one in three payments in CERTIS was an instant payment, according to the CNB. Those instant koruna payments fall outside the EU Instant Payments Regulation, which covers only euro, but customers still notice when a transfer takes until the next day.
Which corridors can we open?
Euro corridors run on SEPA and SEPA Instant. Other currencies travel over SWIFT through a connected provider. Your AML risk assessment decides which countries you serve, and limits can be set per corridor.
Money Transfer

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Czech Republic · Payment institution (platební instituce)

Transfer services a Czech PI can offer

Tell us your licence and country. We will map the rails, providers and documents you need.

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