Payrexx applies for a European payment institution license in Liechtenstein

Gerhard Häring and Helmut Bahamon are still standing on the shore of Lake Thun, where Payrexx has been based for exactly ten years. In future, however, they will be active in Liechtenstein and lead the new Payrexx Europe AG from Vaduz. In July, the first full subsidiary of Payrexx AG was officially founded.

“With the Payrexx Europe AG, we want to systematically tap the European market, especially the neighbouring regions such as Germany and Austria”, explains Ivan Schmid, Managing Director of Payrexx AG. “The goal is to establish our innovative all-in-one payment solution throughout the European Economic Area (EEA).”

Until that time comes, there is still a lot to do. “At the moment, we are deep in paperwork”, says Gerhard Häring, Managing Director of the new company. Even though Thun and Liechtenstein are almost identical culturally — both surrounded by mountains, both crowned by a castle, both with similarly many inhabitants — the devil is still in the detail. “In particular when it comes to the legal nuances, we must take a close look.”

This becomes noticeable, for example, when acquiring the authorisation that is necessary to operate a payment institution. Obtaining this so-called Payment Institution licence (PI) is very time-consuming, explains Helmut Bahamon, Senior Compliance Officer of Payrexx Europe AG: “But we are on a good path!” After half a year of work, a preliminary request could be submitted to the Financial Market Authority in June. A more detailed review and the final revision are still ahead, but, if everything goes well, Payrexx Europe AG should be able to look forward to definitive licensing later this year.

“With the Payrexx Europe AG, we want to systematically tap the European market, especially the neighbouring regions such as Germany and Austria.”

Ivan Schmid

Liechtenstein as the perfect starting point

Over the past ten years, Payrexx has established itself as a payment provider, especially among Swiss SMEs. The solution is designed so that it offers merchants everything they need to get started online with their business. Anyone who already has an online shop can easily connect Payrexx to it and thus offer their customers all popular payment methods for payment — whether TWINT, Mastercard, Visa, PostFinance Pay, Apple Pay or Google Pay. And anyone who does not yet have an online shop can use Payrexx's sales tools directly and create simple donation forms, sales pages or payment links. In addition, Payrexx is currently also getting underway in the POS area, for example with the new payment app Tap to Pay as well as the card terminals to come.

“The product is mature”, summarises Helmut Bahamon, “now we only have to present it to the European Economic Area.” Liechtenstein is the perfect starting point: not only is the principality located geographically between Switzerland and Austria, but also in terms of language and legislation. In addition, with a licence in Liechtenstein, thanks to the freedom to provide services and establish, you may operate throughout the entire EEA. That is why the state is an attractive location for payment service providers or e-money institutions to become active throughout Europe. “With Liechtenstein, we get the best of both worlds”, adds Gerhard Häring, “so to speak the chocolate stick and the bread roll.”

“With Liechtenstein, we get the best of both worlds — so to speak the chocolate stick and the bread roll.”

Gerhard Häring

Swiss quality and global knowledge

With their many years of experience in the financial market, the two prove to be ideal people to take on this step together with Payrexx AG. The 62-year-old Gerhard Häring brings both experience from the IT field and from banking. In his previous roles for various international banks and consulting mandates, the native of Basel was active in many corners of the world. The 35-year-old Helmut Bahamon, in turn, was born in Moscow, grew up in Spain and lived in Munich for a long time. Before Payrexx, he was active both in the automotive industry and in the banking sector. The duo is therefore not only professionally experienced, but also globally oriented.

“We are very pleased to have Gerhard and Helmut, a capable, innovative and future-oriented duo, at the head of Payrexx Europe AG. Together they will help shape the future of Payrexx and represent our vision in the best possible way”, Ivan Schmid, CEO and founder of Payrexx, is also delighted. He himself will in future be active on the board of directors of Payrexx Europe AG, as will Michael Müller and Thomas Feldkircher.

Their board membership ensures that the valuable knowledge about the payment industry, which was gathered in Thun over the past years, is transferred as well as possible to Liechtenstein and all neighbouring regions. So in Vaduz, it will ultimately be mainly about the sales and marketing of the product: once the PI licence is in place, further sales employees will be hired and the neighbouring market will be actively approached. The software itself will, however, continue to be developed and optimised in Switzerland. Or, as the Liechtenstein duo puts it: “From Thun for the world!”