Anyone who facilitates payments between buyers and sellers on a Swiss marketplace may fall under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA). What matters is whether you provide «payment services» within the meaning of Art. 2 para. 3 lit. b AMLA – and whether this activity exceeds the professional activity thresholds of the AMLO. If both conditions apply, you need either affiliation with a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) or a direct FINMA licence.

This guide explains the relevant legal foundations, shows when a marketplace is considered a financial intermediary and when it is not, and describes the specific obligations when subject to regulation – including the option to outsource these obligations to a regulated Payment Service Provider (PSP).

1. What does «financial intermediary» mean in Swiss law?

In Swiss law, a financial intermediary is a person who, on a professional basis, accepts, holds or helps to invest or transfer assets belonging to others. The Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) distinguishes two categories: the financial intermediaries supervised under special legislation under Art. 2 para. 2 AMLA (banks, insurers, securities firms) are directly subject to FINMA supervision. The other financial intermediaries under Art. 2 para. 3 AMLA – the so-called para-banking sector – may choose whether to submit directly to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) or join a self-regulatory organisation (SRO) recognised by FINMA.

For marketplace operators, Art. 2 para. 3 lit. b AMLA is particularly relevant. This enumerated offence covers persons who provide payment services, in particular those who carry out electronic transfers for third parties or issue or manage means of payment such as credit cards and traveller's cheques. In practical terms: If your marketplace receives customer funds and forwards them to sellers, you potentially fulfil this offence.

Whether you are actually subject to regulation as a financial intermediary, however, depends on a second criterion: professional activity.

2. Professional activity criteria under the AMLO

The Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance (AMLO) defines in Art. 7 when financial intermediary activity is considered professional. Only when at least one of the following criteria is met does an obligation to affiliate or obtain a licence arise:

For marketplaces with regular payment flows, the gross revenue and transaction volume criteria are particularly relevant. A marketplace that processes CHF 200,000 in payments per month exceeds the CHF 2 million transaction volume threshold after just ten months. Important: Money or value transfer business is generally always considered professional under Art. 9 AMLO – unless it is carried out for related persons with gross revenue of no more than CHF 50,000 per calendar year.

Activities for related persons (e.g. spouses, registered partners) are only taken into account once gross revenue exceeds CHF 50,000 per calendar year (Art. 7 para. 4 AMLO). In practice, this exception rarely applies to marketplace models.

3. SRO membership vs direct FINMA authorisation

If professional activity is established, as a financial intermediary in the para-banking sector you have two options:

Option A: Membership of an SRO

A self-regulatory organisation (SRO) is an industry association recognised by FINMA that supervises its members and monitors compliance with AMLA obligations. In Switzerland there are several SROs, including the Association for Quality Assurance in Financial Services (VQF), PolyReg and industry-specific SROs. SRO membership is the more practical solution for most marketplaces, as the effort involved is significantly lower than for a FINMA licence.

Costs: The admission fee at an SRO such as PolyReg is approx. CHF 1,600. Annual membership fees vary depending on the size of the business and start at around CHF 1,500 to CHF 5,000 for smaller financial intermediaries. In addition, there are audit costs, which depending on complexity can amount to CHF 3,000 to CHF 15,000 per year.

Option B: Direct FINMA authorisation

Direct subordination to FINMA is an alternative that in practice is mainly worthwhile for larger or high-risk business models. The authorisation process is more complex, and FINMA charges fees for review and ongoing supervision. For most SME marketplaces, this option is disproportionate.

Important: Under Art. 11 para. 1 AMLO, you must submit an application for affiliation or authorisation within two months of the transition to professional activity. Until the procedure is completed, you may only carry out actions that are strictly necessary to preserve the assets.

4. When a marketplace is not considered a financial intermediary

Not every marketplace on which payments flow is automatically subject to the AMLA. There are clear constellations in which no financial intermediation exists:

Ancillary service

If payment processing merely represents a subordinate ancillary service to your main activity, the so-called accessory exception may apply. FINMA Circular 2011/1 states as an indicator that gross revenue from the payment service may account for no more than 10% of the company's total gross revenue. In addition, the funds used for payment processing must come from the general funds of the main service provider.

Auxiliary person of a regulated PSP

Art. 2 para. 2 lit. a no. 2 AMLO exempts auxiliary persons of financial intermediaries authorised or affiliated in Switzerland from the obligation to be subject – under clear conditions: The auxiliary person may not appear independently, must be included in the organisational measures of the financial intermediary for anti-money laundering purposes and must be trained accordingly. In practical terms: If, as a marketplace operator, you use a regulated PSP such as Payrexx and outsource payment processing completely to it, you potentially act as an auxiliary person and are yourself not subject to regulation.

No flow of funds via the marketplace

If your marketplace merely functions as an intermediary platform and buyers pay sellers directly (e.g. via their own payment page), there is no financial intermediation. You neither accept assets belonging to others nor help to transfer them.

Below the professional activity threshold

Even if financial intermediary activity within the meaning of Art. 2 para. 3 AMLA exists, no obligation to affiliate arises as long as none of the professional activity criteria under Art. 7 AMLO is met. However, this exception is only temporary – once a threshold is exceeded, the two-month deadline applies.

5. Obligations when subject to AMLA: what you need to expect

If your marketplace qualifies as a financial intermediary and professional activity applies, you must fulfil the following due diligence obligations:

Identification of the contracting party (KYC)

According to Art. 3 AMLA, when establishing a business relationship you must verify the identity of your contracting parties on the basis of evidential documents. For legal entities, this additionally includes checking the authorisation provisions and the identity of the acting person.

Determination of the beneficial owner

Art. 4 AMLA requires you to identify the beneficial owner behind a business relationship – i.e. the natural person to whom the assets ultimately belong or who effectively controls the business relationship.

Documentation obligation

All transactions and clarifications must be documented in accordance with Art. 7 AMLA so that knowledgeable third parties can form a reliable view. The evidence must be retained in Switzerland for at least ten years.

Reporting obligation in the event of suspicion (MROS)

Art. 9 AMLA establishes a reporting obligation in the event of reasonable suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing. The report is made to the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) at the Federal Office of Police. The reporting obligation must be fulfilled immediately – delaying or failing to do so can have criminal consequences (Art. 37 AMLA). In parallel with the report, there is an asset freeze: the assets involved in the report may not be moved until MROS responds or a statutory deadline expires.

Internal organisation

As an AMLA-subject financial intermediary, you must have an internal control system (Art. 8 AMLA). This includes clear responsibilities, a reporting officer, staff training and transaction monitoring capable of detecting unusual patterns.

6. Checklist: what you should check before launch

Before you launch your marketplace with payment functionality, you should clarify the following points systematically:

1.      Analyse payment flow: Does money flow through your own account or is it split directly by the PSP?

2.      Check financial intermediation: Do you fulfil the offence under Art. 2 para. 3 lit. b AMLA (payment services)?

3.      Check professional activity criteria: Do you exceed one of the thresholds under Art. 7 AMLO (CHF 50,000 gross revenue, 20+ business relationships, CHF 2 million transaction volume)?

4.      Check accessory exception: Does the payment service account for less than 10% of your company's gross revenue?

5.      Check auxiliary person model: Are you contractually and organisationally integrated as an auxiliary person of a regulated PSP?

6.      Plan SRO membership: Obtain quotations from VQF, PolyReg or an industry-specific SRO and plan the lead time (typically 2–4 months).

7.      Define KYC processes: How do you identify sellers on your marketplace? Manually, via video identification or through your PSP?

8.      Establish MROS reporting process: Define internally who triggers the report to MROS in the event of suspicion and how the asset freeze is implemented operationally.

9.      Ensure documentation: Set up a system for ten-year record retention.

10.  Obtain legal assessment: Have your specific payment flow reviewed by a law firm specialising in financial market law – the delimitation is complex in each individual case.

7. How Payrexx supports you with AMLA compliance

Payrexx is a Swiss Payment Service Provider (PSP) with a marketplace payment solution designed specifically for platform operators. Through the Split Payment model, the payment from the buyer flows directly via Payrexx:

The commission of the platform goes to the marketplace, the remainder to the seller – without the marketplace itself touching customer funds. Payrexx takes over the KYC and onboarding of sub-merchants, the due diligence obligations in accordance with the AMLA and the payouts to sellers.

All common Swiss payment methods are supported – from TWINT and PostFinance to credit cards and QR bill. Integration takes place via a documented API that can be integrated into existing platforms.