Payment Processing for MiCA-Licensed Crypto Firms
Since July 2026, every crypto-asset service provider serving clients in the EU needs authorisation under MiCA. For payments, that has made things clearer: an authorised firm can show acquirers and banks exactly what it is allowed to do, and firms without authorisation are being cut off. What acquirers now check is whether your licence covers the services you actually run, and how fiat money moves in and out.
Last reviewed October 2026
What MiCA authorisation covers
The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation has applied to crypto-asset service providers since 30 December 2024. A provider is authorised by the authority of the EU country where it has its registered office, and it can then serve clients across the EU after notifying that authority. It must have its place of effective management in the EU and at least one director resident in the EU.
Minimum capital depends on the services: EUR 50,000 for services such as executing orders, transfers and advice, EUR 125,000 when custody or exchange between crypto and money is included, and EUR 150,000 for operating a trading platform.
The transition period has ended
Firms already active before MiCA could keep operating under national rules during a transition period. Several countries ended it early, and it ran out everywhere on 1 July 2026. ESMA has said that firms without authorisation must stop taking on and marketing to EU clients and limit themselves to winding down: returning assets, transferring holdings and closing positions.
By early August 2026, more than 320 providers were on ESMA's interim register of authorised firms. Payment providers and banks now expect to see your entry there.
Client money and the PSD2 question
MiCA requires client money, other than e-money tokens, to be placed with a credit institution or central bank by the end of the next business day, in an account kept separate from your own. A crypto firm may only offer payment services itself if it, or a partner, holds a payment services licence.
The European Banking Authority has said that custody and transfers of e-money tokens, the euro and dollar stablecoins issued under MiCA, can be payment services that need a payment licence. Its transition period ran until 1 March 2026; from 2 March 2026 these services must be covered by a payment licence. If you hold or transfer e-money tokens for clients, an acquirer or bank will ask whether you, or a licensed partner, cover that.
Card scheme rules for crypto
Buying crypto with a card is processed under merchant category code 6051 and treated as quasi-cash by many issuers, which can lead to declines or cash-advance fees for the cardholder. Visa places crypto merchants in Tier 2 of its Visa Integrity Risk Program, so acquirers must register them, and Visa requires the checkout to show the crypto bought, the total cost in money and the wallet address. Card scheme rules apply on top of MiCA: authorisation makes you eligible, it does not override them.
Anti-money laundering and the travel rule
Under the EU's Transfer of Funds Regulation, crypto firms have had to send and check information about the sender and recipient of crypto transfers since 30 December 2024. This is known as the travel rule. The new EU Anti-Money Laundering Regulation applies from July 2027. Acquirers read your controls against both, and against how you screen wallets and transactions.
What acquirers check before boarding a MiCA firm
- Your MiCA authorisation and the services it lists, held by the entity that will sign the merchant agreement, and your entry on ESMA's register.
- Which EU countries you have notified, and whether you serve any clients outside the EU.
- How fiat money moves: where client funds are held and how fast deposits reach them.
- Whether you handle e-money tokens, and how payment licensing is covered.
- Your AML framework, travel rule process and blockchain screening.
- Card purchase flow: what the customer sees at checkout and how refunds and disputes are handled.
- Processing history: volume, approval rates and disputes, if you already process.
How Ecompayer helps MiCA-licensed crypto firms
Ecompayer is not a payment provider. You add your authorisation, services, client markets, volumes and payment methods once, and your profile is matched with a payment provider that boards MiCA-authorised crypto firms. Your account is then prepared with that provider so you can take payments in money from your clients. Final approval and terms are always the provider's decision.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets, Articles 59, 62, 65, 67, 70 and 143, and Annex IV.
- ESMA, list of MiCA transitional periods by Member State, December 2024; ESMA public statement on the end of the transitional period, 23 June 2026.
- EBA no-action letter on PSD2 and MiCA, 10 June 2025, and EBA opinion EBA/OP/2026/01, February 2026.
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 on information accompanying transfers of funds and certain crypto-assets.
- Visa Integrity Risk Program; Mastercard Developers, cryptocurrency purchase indicator for MCC 6051.
- ESMA interim MiCA register, as reported by Cointelegraph, August 2026.
Check your own situation
Whether a provider boards you depends on your licence, markets, volume and history. Answer four questions to see which payment routes may fit your business.
Four questions about your business
Industry, company country, customer markets and estimated monthly volume, that is all we need to begin.
Related licences
Electronic money institution (EMI)
An electronic money institution (EMI) may issue e-money and hold customer balances, which puts it in a regulated category of its own when it applies for card acquiring. The question is no longer whether the business is legitimate, but how customer money is safeguarded, which markets the licence covers and how financial crime is controlled.
CySEC licence (Cyprus)
A CySEC licence is the most common route for forex and CFD brokers into the European market, and it is a licence acquirers understand. It also comes with detailed rules on how client money moves through payment providers, and card schemes now treat broker deposits as a category of their own. An acquirer will check both before it boards you.
Related merchant problems
Declined by payment providers
Being declined again and again is rarely about your business being bad. Most declines come from a mismatch: the provider does not accept your industry, your markets or your history, or something in your application could not be verified. Find the real reason before the next application, because applying to more providers with the same file usually gets the same answer.
Provider asked for more documents
A request for more documents is not a rejection. It means the provider cannot verify something in your file yet, and it has to before it can open your account. Providers are legally required to know who they do business with, so the fastest way through is to send exactly what is asked, complete and consistent, in one go.
Multi-currency settlement needed
Selling in several currencies and being settled in several currencies are different things: you can charge a customer in their currency on almost any route, but being paid out in that currency depends on what the specific provider supports.
Related guides
High-risk payment processing
High-risk payment processing is card acceptance for businesses that acquirers and card schemes consider more likely to cause chargebacks, fraud, legal or reputational problems. It is a classification, not a verdict on your business: it means fewer providers will take you on, underwriting asks for more, and terms include safeguards such as reserves. With the right provider, high-risk businesses process cards every day.
MCC codes
A merchant category code (MCC) is a four-digit code that tells the card schemes and card issuers what kind of business you are. Your acquirer assigns it when you are onboarded. It affects what interchange you pay, whether issuers approve your payments, whether you need scheme registration and which rules apply to you.
What is a PSP?
A payment service provider (PSP) is the company that lets your business accept payments: it connects your checkout to card schemes and local payment methods, sends each payment for authorisation and reports the result. Some PSPs also hold the acquiring licence and settle the money to you; others route your payments to a separate acquiring bank that does.
Check which payment routes may fit your business
Answer a short set of questions about your business and we will check your profile against the requirements providers have given us. No approval is decided here.
Check my payment optionsNothing is shared with a provider until you submit your onboarding pack. Approval is always the provider's decision.