Digital & Technology

Yapeal awarded first FinTech license in Switzerland

Yapeal, a challenger bank based in Switzerland, has been announced as the first firm to be awarded a FinTech license by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.

The FinTech license, which was first created by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority in 2019, was created to cater to smaller challenger start-ups, according to a report by FinTech Futures, due to the fact that it is considered to be easier to attain.

Under the Swiss FinTech license, banks are restricted to taking a maximum deposit of USD106 million. The are also not allowed to invest customer assets or charge interest under the FinTech license.

In order to become eligible for the FinTech license, firms need to raise USD2.1 million, significantly lower than the USD10.5 million needed for an entity to be considered for a full banking license.

Yapeal is in the process of building its digital wallet offering, with the firm’s website stating that the firm’s eventual direction, be it offering a mobile wallet, a payment app, or becoming a financial services provider, or something else entirely, remains to be seen.