Payment System Operator License in Labuan
Level 1
Labuan0
People viewed this LicenseLicense Type
Payment System Operator licence
RegulatorLFSA
Share CapitalN/A
Deadlines
7 to 13 months(approx.)
Estimated Market Price
From €60,000
Level 1
LabuanEstimated Market Price
From €60,000
0
People viewed this LicenseLicense Type
Payment System Operator licence
RegulatorLFSA
Share CapitalN/A
Deadlines
7 to 13 months (approx.)
Level 2
License Details
Explore full requirements, allowed activities, taxation, and operational scope.
Permitted Activities
Operate a payment system/switch for participating PSPs
Process authorisation, clearing and settlement messages
Provide netting and settlement files to settlement banks
Connectivity for card, account‑to‑account and QR rails (as approved)
Participant certification, operational and risk oversight
Ancillary services: dispute/chargeback workflows, reporting APIs
Frequently Asked Questions
Clear, concise info to help you understand the process!
The statute and very little else. The approval to carry on business as a payment system operator is granted by Labuan FSA under section 171 of the Labuan Financial Services and Securities Act 2010, and under section 136 of the Islamic equivalent for Islamic business — and section 171 sits in the miscellaneous part of the Act, not in a dedicated payment-systems part. There is no standalone guideline in force. The document of that kind is an exposure draft, Guidelines on Payment System Operator, dated 3 February 2026. Until it is finalised the operative material is the statute, the 2020 application form and the fee schedule.
There is no published minimum currently in force. The Directive on Minimum Capital Requirement by Labuan Licensed Entities of 5 October 2015 covers banking at RM10 million unimpaired by losses, insurance at RM7.5 million and money broking at RM300,000 — it contains no payment system operator entry. The 2020 application form does not state one either; the applicant proposes its own figure. The exposure draft proposes RM1,000,000 for payment system activities only and RM1,500,000 where digital-asset activities are combined, unimpaired by losses at all times, with Labuan FSA able to require more — but that is a draft, not law.
USD 13,000 under the revised fee structure effective 1 January 2026 — the same band as a credit token licence, against USD 5,000 for a conventional money broker and USD 10,000 for a digital-asset money broker. The licence application processing fee is USD 500, fast-track under the Act is USD 1,500, and a business transfer application is USD 2,000. Note that the 2020 application form still quotes USD 350 normal and USD 1,550 fast track — superseded by the 2026 schedule, and a good example of why the form is not a reliable source for figures.
Less than a European-style payment licence, and one common model is expressly out. Under the exposure draft a PSO may undertake transfer, clearing or settlement of funds or securities; transfer, clearing or settlement of digital assets including safekeeping and administration; and provision of electronic money services. Expressly excluded are central bank systems, clearing houses, in-house systems, and payment-initiation-only services. A buyer planning a pure open-banking or payment-initiation model cannot use a Labuan PSO, and should establish the permitted scope in writing rather than inferring it from the licence name.
An operational office in Labuan dedicated to the business, with appropriate equipment; the 2020 application form requires a management office with a stated functional structure and staffing plan, and board and senior management must be fit and proper under the Labuan FSA guidelines of 11 February 2014. No express resident-director requirement and no foreign-ownership restriction were found. On Malaysian residents and ringgit, neither the exposure draft, the application form nor the Act states a restriction — any such limit comes from outside the Labuan FSA framework, through Bank Negara's foreign exchange policy notices treating Labuan entities as non-residents.
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