Payrexx applies for a European Payment Institution License in Liechtenstein

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

«With Payrexx Europe AG, we want to specifically tap the European market, especially the neighboring 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).»

There is still quite a bit to do before that happens. «Currently, 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 details. «In particular when it comes to the legal nuances, we need to look closely.»

This is noticeable, for example, when obtaining the authorization required to operate a payment institution. However, obtaining the so-called Payment Institution license (PI) is 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 preliminary application could be submitted to the Financial Market Authority in June. A more detailed review as well as the final audit are still to come, but if everything goes well, Payrexx Europe AG should be able to look forward to definitive licensing later this year.

«With Payrexx Europe AG, we want to specifically tap the European market, especially the neighboring 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 started online. Anyone who already has an online shop can easily connect Payrexx to it and thus offer their customers all popular payment methods for checkout – 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 also currently expanding in the POS area, for example with the new payment app Tap to Pay and the upcoming card readers.

«The product is mature», Helmut Bahamon summarizes, «now we only need to present it to the European Economic Area.» Liechtenstein is the perfect starting point: not only geographically is the principality located between Switzerland and Austria, but also in terms of language and legislation. In addition, with an authorization in Liechtenstein, thanks to the freedom to provide services and freedom of establishment, one can 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», Gerhard Häring adds, «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 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 the IT sector and the banking industry. In his previous roles for various international banks and consulting assignments, the Basel native worked in many corners of the world. The 35-year-old Helmut Bahamon, meanwhile, was born in Moscow, grew up in Spain and lived in Munich for a long time. Before Payrexx, he worked both in the automotive industry and in the banking sector. The duo is therefore not only professionally skilled, but also globally oriented.

«We are very pleased to have Gerhard and Helmut, a capable, innovative and forward-looking duo, at the helm of Payrexx Europe AG. 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 involvement ensures that the valuable knowledge about the payment industry, which has been gathered in Thun over the past years, is transferred to Liechtenstein and all neighboring regions in the best possible way. In Vaduz, the focus will ultimately be mainly on the sales and marketing of the product: once the PI license is in place, further sales staff will be hired and the neighboring market will be actively targeted. The software itself will continue to be developed and optimized in Switzerland. Or, as the Liechtenstein duo puts it: «From Thun for the world!»