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1000+

Successful FCA applications

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Winner of Best Financial Services Compliance Consultancy 2020 - 2023

2000+

Happy customers served

Types of services

We take the payment services compliance workload off your plate, so you can continue to comply as your business grows, without your regulatory responsibilities slowing innovation.

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Applications

Preparing your submission and supporting documents, answering feedback and questions from the FCA; we’re there from beginning to end and beyond

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Compliance support

Comfort that the right processes are in place to meet your payment services compliance obligations on an ongoing basis, from regular audits and technical advice, to a strong compliance document suite

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Audit and advisory

Having worked with over 250 payment and E-money firms, we know one size does not fit all when it comes to payment services compliance, our support is always tailor-made in the way that works best for you

Wondering how long it’ll take? What your options are? Where to start? Or whether you’re ready to become authorised?

Head to our FCA authorisation FAQs

Financial crime prevention

Keep on top of your financial crime compliance and understand your responsibilities, with hands-on support from our world-class regulatory experts.

 

Find out more ➜

EU Application

Unlock and expand the power of your Payment Services firm to new markets across the EU.

As well as supporting Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) and Payment Institutions (PIs) with applications to the FCA in the UK, Thistle Initiatives is ready to help your firm expand to new client bases in the European Union (EU). We are helping firms revolutionise and empower payment services businesses by assisting them with licensing across multiple EU jurisdictions.

 

Click the link below to see how we can help your firm expand.

 

Find out more ➜

Who we support

We support these types of organisations to keep innovating
  • Electronic Money Institutions
  • Commercial Agents
  • Account Information Service Providers
  • Electronic Communication Service Providers
  • Payment Initiation Service Providers
  • Payment Card Issuers
  • Foreign Exchange (FX) Providers
  • Payment Account Providers
  • Payment Acquirers
  • Payment Processors
  • Bill Payment Providers
  • Money Remitters
And many more...
Verto
OpenPayd
3C Payment
Juni
Dext
We worked with Thistle’s payment services team on our application to become a Registered Account Information Service Provider (RAISP). From the very start of the project, the team was extremely professional and fast-moving, answering all our queries in detail and drafting comprehensive documents for our application. This helped us get approved much faster than we had accounted for. We would recommend Thistle’s team to any early-stage company that’s looking for support on their FCA applications.
Bippit

Agent and distributor onboarding

For companies looking for a quicker route to market, we provide practical support for becoming agents and e-money distributors of existing regulated providers.

We will help prepare everything you need to seamlessly pass through the due diligence checks on the principal firm, when onboarding as either an agent or distributor.

What our payment services clients have to say

“We have enjoyed working with the Thistle team, they are all very knowledgeable, professional and experienced. The team has assisted us in the preparation and review of all the necessary documents for our license application. We would recommend Thistle to any start-up companies like us that’s looking for support on their FCA applications.”
KeyChain-Pay-logo
KeyChain Pay

“From the beginning, the Thistle team were very knowledgeable about the payment services application process. The team took time to understand our needs, were easy to work with and it felt like they put a lot of effort into the application. Our authorised payment institution application was successful and was approved by the FCA with very minimal feedback, meaning we could start rolling out our services as soon as possible.”

By Miles-3
By Miles

“Thistle has supported us with our ongoing compliance requirements ever since they assisted us to become an authorised EMI. The team are highly knowledgeable in both the EMI and AML regulatory space. They are thorough and constructive with any feedback or advice and are able to assist with complex compliance matters in a digestible way, with a commercial mindset. I have found their audit process to be well constructed, detailed, and a vital asset in ensuring we are following our regulatory requirements. We look forward to working on the next project with the Thistle team.”

VertoFX
VertoFX
“The Roqqett team really enjoyed working with Thistle. We really appreciated not only the effort Thistle’s payment services team put in, but also their enthusiastic attitude. Thanks to them, we got our API application approved in no time at all.”
Roqqett-1
Roqqett

Some of our recent payment services blog posts

Payment Services Monthly Newsletter - 2024

Payment Services Monthly Newsletter - 2024

Here's an overview of our monthly payment services updates: - New Klarna ...
NatWest becomes first UK bank to be accepted on to UK Open Banking DPS

NatWest becomes first UK bank to be accepted on to UK Open Banking DPS

Summary NatWest Bank has become the first UK bank to join the Crown Commercial ...
HSBC UK installs first Cash Pod in Nailsea to help with access to cash

HSBC UK installs first Cash Pod in Nailsea to help with access to cash

Summary Ahead of the closure of the town’s last bank, HSBC UK has introduced ...