FINMA regulation: Do you need a licence for your Swiss marketplace?

Building your own online marketplace is exciting – until you stumble over the FINMA regulations, the Anti-Money Laundering Act (GwG) or the Banking Act (BankG) for the first time. For many founders and platform operators in Switzerland, the legal side of payment processing is a major pain point.

The central question is: If a buyer pays on your marketplace and you forward the money to the corresponding sub-merchant, do you need your own authorisation from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) for this, or do you have to join a self-regulatory organisation (SRO)?

Here you will learn what Swiss financial market regulation means for you and how you cleverly steer around this legal minefield.

Why are Swiss authorities interested in marketplaces?

Swiss laws for protecting the financial market are strict. As soon as your marketplace receives funds from buyers, parks them in an own account in between and pays them out (minus your commission) to the sellers on your platform, you enter a regulatory grey area.

Depending on the exact business model and contractual arrangement, this can quickly make you a financial intermediary within the meaning of the Anti-Money Laundering Act or even satisfy the offence of the commercial acceptance of public deposits under the Banking Act. Anyone who manages or transfers third-party funds is strictly regulated in order to prevent money laundering and fraud.

The risk of your own pooled account

Many startups start with the simple idea: "Customers pay into our company account, and we transfer the merchants their share at the end of the month." Exactly this approach (operating pooled accounts for third parties) immediately triggers legal problems in Switzerland without the corresponding licences or strictly regulated exception provisions. FINMA does not take unauthorised activity lightly, and the penalties can be severe.

Your two options as a marketplace operator

If you therefore move funds back and forth between two parties on a Swiss platform, you face a strategic decision:

How Payrexx solves the compliance problem for you

This is exactly where Payrexx's marketplace solution comes in. We enable you to set up something that massively relieves you and helps you avoid conflicts with the strict Swiss financial market regulations.

This works in practice as follows:

1. Direct routing (Split Payments): When a customer pays on your marketplace, the money does not flow into one big pot in your company account. The transaction is split in the background. Your agreed commission goes to you, the remainder goes directly to the respective merchant.

2. Automatic KYC (Know Your Customer): Checking the identity of merchants is a legal requirement to prevent money laundering. Payrexx handles the identification and onboarding process for all your sub-merchants in Switzerland.

3. Focus on technology, not on fiduciary duties: Since the complex payment flows are structured by Payrexx and our regulated acquiring partners, you are out of the line of fire. You merely provide the platform, without having to act as a bank or payment service provider yourself.

Conclusion: Focus on your core business instead of bureaucracy

Regulatory hurdles must not be a blocker for your marketplace growth in Switzerland. Trying to manage the payment flows yourself and navigate through legal grey areas is extremely risky and ties up valuable resources.

With a solution like Payrexx Marketplaces, you cleverly outsource the complexity of split payments and merchant onboarding. This lets you focus on what really matters: scaling your Swiss platform and the satisfaction of your users.