Name
Global FinTech Guide
Country _ Name
Ireland
SectionTitle
Payment services
Body
FinTechs belonging to this category offer alternative payment services which are supposed to provide a faster and cheaper way for national, European, and international payments for private and business customers by using new technologies.

For example, payment service providers hereby offer solutions to easily integrate several payment services in online shops.

Some FinTechs furthermore provide real cash register systems and online-reservation solutions for restaurants and shops providing their own payment services or making use of the payment services of FinTechs described above.

Introduction

Attitude of the country towards modern payment services

The government of Ireland is strongly supportive of FinTech including payment services and e-money firms and its International Financial Services Sector Strategy (Ireland for Finance 2025) stated its commitment to developing Ireland as a global leader in the financial services sector. In the 2023 Update to this Strategy, the Government of Ireland gave more prominence to sustainable finance and to digital finance and fintech, as well as extending the period for the strategy to the end of 2026.
Many of the leading FinTech and payments firms are located in Ireland with the technology sector employing over 105,000 people, leveraging the ecosystem built up over many years consisting of:

  • Educated, skilled and multilingual staff
  • Access to EU talent pool
  • Competitive corporation tax of 12.5%*
  • Comprehensive double taxation treaty network
  • Knowledge development box (tax rate of 6.25%)
  • R&D tax credit
  • Committed member of the EU and only English-speaking country in the Eurozone
  • Common law jurisdiction
  • EU regulatory passporting
  • Strong independent regulator delivering high quality independent effective financial authorisation and supervision
  • In recent years, EU agreements have been made with the intention to set a minimum 15% effective tax rate on companies with an annual turnover of over €750 million. Though Ireland does not intend to increase base tax level to 15%, there will likely be a tiered structure. This tiered structure will mean that big multinational companies will first pay the 12.5% rate which will be subject to a top-up making the effective tax rate 15%.


Legal affairs

Obligations and requirements to provide payment services or ancillary services described above

The provision of payment services is a regulated activity requiring authorisation under the European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018 (the PSD Regulations) which transpose Directive 2015/2366/EU (PSD2) into Irish law. PSPs are also covered by Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on information accompanying transfers of funds and certain crypto-assets and amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 (the 2023 Regulations).

Pursuant to the PSD Regulations, payment institutions must hold an initial capital requirement of between €20k and €125k depending on their category of authorisation.

An own funds capital requirement also applies, which is calculated based on the initial capital requirement and the previous year’s fixed overheads or the previous years' payment transactions.

Under the 2023 Regulations, there are additional obligations on PSPs who are taking part in transferring amounts of over €1,000 both inside and outside the EU. These obligations include the provision of additional payer and payee information, assessment and detection of missing information, retention of relevant information and additional reporting obligations to national competent authorities (being the Central Bank of Ireland in this jurisdiction).

The Central Bank of Ireland commits to dealing with an application for authorisation within approximately 100 working days subject to any requests for additional information.

DORA, (Digital Operational Resilience Act) applied in full from 17 January 2025 creating a European regulatory framework strengthening the financial sector's resilience to information and communication technology (ICT) disruptions and threats. DORA brings together provisions addressing digital operational risk in the financial sector in a consistent manner in one single legislative act. DORA applies to a wide range of financial entities such as credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms, it also applied to some major FinTech providers. As a result, such FinTech providers will be subject to direct supervision by European financial regulators for the first time.



Additional comments regarding the legal situation for payment services or what FinTech’s must be aware of in this business area

Ireland has seen a growth in the number of FinTechs, including payment institutions establishing here since Brexit, which has been positive for the industry here in Ireland. The Central Bank of Ireland welcomes the establishment of new operators in Ireland but requires such applicants to have a clear substance and establishment in Ireland with senior management based and managing the institution from Ireland and will not authorise 'letter box' entities. Outsourcing and dual-hatting is permitted where reasonable and justified by reference to the institution’s business plan and operations.



Economic conditions

Market size for payment services and biggest payment service providers

During 2024, 4.9 billion payment transactions were recorded by Irish resident payment service providers (PSPs). An 18.9 per cent increase from 4.1 billion in 2023, this is mainly driven by the entry of new payment service providers into the Irish market. The value of total payments amounted to €11.84 trillion, a 12.6 per cent increase from €10.5 trillion reported in 2023.[Source: Central Bank of Ireland – Payment Statists Quarterly 9 April 2025]
Domestic payments (within Ireland) amounting to €4.1 trillion, or 34.6 per cent of the total value of transactions sent. (Payment Statistics I Central Bank of Ireland | Central Bank of Ireland)



Additional comments regarding the economic situation for payment services or what FinTech’s must be aware of in this business area
According to the FinTech Payments Service of Ireland, Ireland is the 7th largest exporter of financial services in the world and is the 4th largest exporter of financial services in the EU (https://bpfi.ie/fintech-payments-association-of-ireland/).

International banking operations in Ireland are now acting as a key bridge to servicing the EU market, directly and through its vast EU branch networks. A driving factor behind the growth of the sector has been major growth of systemically important institutions using their bases in Ireland to service the global and EU market.



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