Payrexx applies for 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 will lead the new Payrexx Europe AG from Vaduz. In July, the first fully owned subsidiary of Payrexx AG was officially founded.

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

Until then, there is still a lot to do. “At the moment, we are deep in paperwork,” says Gerhard Häring, Managing Director of the new company. Although Thun and Liechtenstein are culturally almost identical – both surrounded by mountains, both crowned by a castle, both with a similar number of inhabitants – the devil is in the detail. “Especially when it comes to the legal details, we have to look very carefully.”

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

“With Payrexx Europe AG, we want to open up the European market in a targeted way, 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 to provide merchants with everything they need to get their business online off the ground. Anyone who already has an online shop can easily connect Payrexx to it and 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. Payrexx is also currently making inroads in the POS area, for example with the new Tap to Pay payment app and the forthcoming card readers.

“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 geographically between Switzerland and Austria, but also in terms of language and legislation. In addition, with an authorisation in Liechtenstein, thanks to freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment, one may operate throughout the entire EEA. That is why the state is an attractive location for payment service providers or e-money institutions to operate across Europe. “With Liechtenstein, we get the best of both worlds,” adds Gerhard Häring, “so to speak the chocolate baton and the bread roll.”

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

Gerhard Häring

Swiss quality and global expertise

With their many years of experience in the financial market, the two prove to be ideal people to take this step together with Payrexx AG. The 62-year-old Gerhard Häring brings experience from both IT and banking. In his previous roles for various international banks and consulting mandates, the Basel native worked 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 worked in both the automotive industry and the banking sector. The duo is therefore not only professionally skilled, but also globally oriented.

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

Their presence on the board ensures that the valuable knowledge of the payment industry, which has been gathered in Thun over the past years, is transferred as well as possible to Liechtenstein and all neighbouring regions. So in Vaduz, it is ultimately 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 actively approached. The software itself will also continue to be developed and optimised in Switzerland. Or, as the Liechtenstein duo puts it: “From Thun for the world!”