FINTECH LICENCES

A payment intermediary service (PIS), also known as a payment service provider (PSP), is a fintech entity that acts as a go-between in financial transactions, particularly for e-commerce and online payments. These services, such as those licensed in Mauritius, enable businesses and consumers to securely process various payment methods including digital wallets, and offering services like transaction processing, risk management, and multi-currency settlements.

A Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) is any business or entity that provides services involving virtual assets, like cryptocurrencies, such as exchanging them for fiat currency, facilitating their transfer, or offering custody and management services.These entities are crucial for the virtual asset ecosystem, acting as intermediaries between users and digital assets.

An issuer of an Initial Token Offering (ITO) is a company that is registered and licensed to offer virtual tokens to the public in exchange for fiat currency or other virtual assets.These companies use the ITO process to raise capital by selling these digital tokens, which can represent various rights, such as access to a service or a stake in an asset.

This type of service refers to the provision of digital and personalised advisory services through a computer program and/or artificial intelligence enabled algorithms with limited human intervention.

These advisory services are exclusively of financial nature and are related to

discretionary and non-discretionary investment and portfolio management services for the clients.

P2P lending is an online-based model that directly connects individual lenders (investors) with individual or business borrowers, bypassing traditional banks. An online platform acts as an intermediary, facilitating the loan process from credit assessment to repayment management. 

crowdfunding is an innovative digital model for raising capital by connecting entrepreneurs and businesses with a broad base of individual investors and contributors via online platforms.Fintech streamlines this process, democratizing access to funding for startups and new projects by bypassing traditional financial intermediaries like banks. Platforms facilitate various forms, such as equity crowdfunding for shares, debt or loan crowdfunding, and rewards-based crowdfunding for products or services, all powered by technology to make it efficient and accessible.  

A license that allows fintech companies to test innovative products and services in a controlled, live environment under relaxed regulatory requirements for a defined period. This enables firms to experiment with new financial solutions without being fully compliant with existing regulations, providing a safe space to trial new ideas, gauge their market viability, and demonstrate their potential benefits to consumers and the financial system as a whole.