Comparison
Payment and money-services licences compared across jurisdictions
The same commercial activity attracts different instruments, regulators and requirement sets depending on where it is authorised.
Written for: Identify which permission and jurisdiction to pursue
| Permission family | Money servicesRemittance, transfer, exchange | E-money and payment accounts | Virtual asset services |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core activity | Moving money for other people | Issuing e-money or operating payment accounts | Exchange, transfer, custody or platform operation for virtual assets |
| United States | Federal registration plus state money transmitter licensing | Typically achieved through a licensed partner arrangement | Federal registration plus state regimes, activity dependent |
| Hong Kong | Money Service Operator licence | Stored Value Facility licence | Virtual asset trading platform licence |
| Singapore | Payment Services Act licence, money-transfer services | Payment Services Act licence, e-money and account issuance | Payment Services Act licence, digital payment token services |
| Customer funds implications | Funds in transit, with reconciliation and monitoring controls | Safeguarding of customer balances is central to the permission | Custody and key-management controls where customer assets are held |
| Financial resource requirement | Set by the regulator; maintained in the platform catalog | Set by the regulator; maintained in the platform catalog | Set by the regulator; maintained in the platform catalog |
Money services
Remittance, transfer, exchange
- Core activity
- Moving money for other people
- United States
- Federal registration plus state money transmitter licensing
- Hong Kong
- Money Service Operator licence
- Singapore
- Payment Services Act licence, money-transfer services
- Customer funds implications
- Funds in transit, with reconciliation and monitoring controls
- Financial resource requirement
- Set by the regulator; maintained in the platform catalog
E-money and payment accounts
- Core activity
- Issuing e-money or operating payment accounts
- United States
- Typically achieved through a licensed partner arrangement
- Hong Kong
- Stored Value Facility licence
- Singapore
- Payment Services Act licence, e-money and account issuance
- Customer funds implications
- Safeguarding of customer balances is central to the permission
- Financial resource requirement
- Set by the regulator; maintained in the platform catalog
Virtual asset services
- Core activity
- Exchange, transfer, custody or platform operation for virtual assets
- United States
- Federal registration plus state regimes, activity dependent
- Hong Kong
- Virtual asset trading platform licence
- Singapore
- Payment Services Act licence, digital payment token services
- Customer funds implications
- Custody and key-management controls where customer assets are held
- Financial resource requirement
- Set by the regulator; maintained in the platform catalog
Reading this comparison
What this table does not say
- Capital and own-funds figures are set by each regulator and are not published on this page.
- Nothing here indicates that an application would be granted. The regulator owns every authorisation decision.
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Jurisdiction-specific instruments, regulators, requirement areas and ongoing obligations.
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