Payments

Payments play a vital role in our day to day lives.

Consumers and businesses make and receive millions of payments every day within the UK financial system. Understanding and operating within this complex and rapidly evolving space can be challenging, whatever the nature and scale of your business and wherever you sit in the payments chain.

Our payments team acts for clients from all parts of the payments ecosystem from banks, payment service providers and e-money issuers to merchants and merchant acquirers, and regulated and unregulated FinTechs of all kinds.

The breadth and depth of our practice in this rapidly evolving sector enables us to advise on the full spectrum of regulatory, transactional, and commercial issues affecting the payments industry today.

Payments experience

• Advised an international payment, identity, e-money and banking solutions service provider on various UK and EEA regulatory issues, as well as VISA, MasterCard and other card scheme rules.

• Drafted complex B2C and B2B payment services agreements for various clients, including for entities providing white label payment services and for deposit aggregation platforms.

• Provided UK and EEA regulatory advice on a high profile acquisition (EUR 35,000,000) of an EEA credit institution by a large South American payment service provider in order that it may provide various services (including merchant acquiring, issuer processing, card processing, instant and delayed settlement and consumer and SME credit services) in the EEA market.

• Prepared and / or advised on various FCA applications for authorisation of electronic money issuers or payment institutions and provided ongoing payments regulatory advice to the same (including advising on the basis for authorisation, safeguarding, required and breach of regulatory capital, reports and notifications to the FCA, and on T&Cs and other agreements).

• Advised numerous EEA and international banks and payment services providers on the implementation of the second Payment Services Directive, including ongoing advice on strong customer authentication. Advised unregulated online merchants on the same (including providing detailed advice to clients in the travel and hospitality industry on one-time passcodes, surcharging, and chargebacks).

• Advised a cryptocurrency exchange on a corporate restructure to de-risk the businesses, the issuance of electronic money, the preparation and submission of two FCA applications and subsequent communications with the FCA; and anti-money laundering issues.

• Advised Allianz X, the digital investment unit of the Allianz group, on various investments including its Series B investment in SafeBoda, a major African ride hailing platform that also offers various on-demand consumer and payment services.

• Advised a multinational ecommerce corporation and online marketplace on the commercial and regulatory consequences of a group restructure, and providing ongoing payments regulatory and other advice.

• Advised award-winning, ‘API Only’ technology provider Yapily Ltd on a funding round, co-led by LocalGlobe and HV Holtzbrinck Ventures.