Digital Payments & Fintech · Austria
Fintech & digital payments rules in Austria (2026)
Austria shaded by its digital payments & fintech status
Austria has a clear, EU-aligned licensing regime for digital payments and fintech: payment institutions, e-money institutions and PSD2 third-party providers (AISPs/PISPs) are authorised and supervised by the FMA under ZaDiG 2018, the E-Money Act 2010 and the Banking Act. Crypto-asset service providers are licensed by the FMA under the EU MiCA Regulation, and SEPA instant payments are mandatory under EU Regulation 2024/886. A dedicated FMA FinTech Point of Contact and regulatory Sandbox support new entrants.
Key points
The FMA grants licences to payment institutions, payment initiation service providers and e-money institutions; the three pivotal supervisory laws are ZaDiG 2018, the E-Money Act 2010 (E-Geldgesetz 2010) and the Banking Act (BWG).
Open banking is based on PSD2, transposed into Austrian law by ZaDiG 2018; third-party providers must be registered or licensed at the FMA as account information service providers (AISPs) or payment initiation service providers (PISPs).
EU Regulation (EU) 2024/886 makes euro instant credit transfers mandatory: PSPs had to be able to receive instant payments from 9 January 2025 and to send them plus run Verification of Payee (IBAN-name check) from 9 October 2025, with no higher fees than standard transfers. The FMA is the competent authority; PSPs report annually to the OeNB.
Under the EU MiCA Regulation (in force 30 December 2024), crypto-asset service providers must obtain FMA authorisation; the transitional period for existing CASPs ran until 31 December 2025. The FMA has issued MiCA licences to firms such as Bybit and AMINA in 2025.
Buy-now-pay-later and short-term/low-value consumer credit become regulated consumer credit under the EU Second Consumer Credit Directive (CCD2, Directive 2023/2225); member states including Austria must apply the stricter rules from 20 November 2026, bringing previously unregulated 'pay-in-X' models under full consumer-protection standards.
The FMA runs a FinTech Point of Contact and a FinTech Navigator for licensing/AML guidance, plus a regulatory Sandbox (open since 1 September 2020) where a dedicated FMA supervisory team agrees test parameters and milestones to ease the path to authorisation.
Timeline - major decisions & events
Under the Austrian MiCA-VVG transitional regime, crypto-asset service providers previously registered as VASPs had to be authorised by the FMA as CASPs by 31 December 2025 or cease activities. It marks the end of the grandfathering window that closed the old AML-only registration era.
FMA ↗The FMA authorised Bitpanda GmbH as a crypto-asset service provider under Article 63 MiCAR, the first full MiCA licence issued in Austria; its prior FM-GwG VASP registration lapsed automatically. It signalled the FMA operationalising the new EU crypto licensing regime.
FMA ↗The EU Digital Operational Resilience Act became applicable with no transition period, backed by Austria's DORA-Vollzugsgesetz, imposing ICT-risk-management, incident-reporting and third-party-oversight duties on FMA-supervised payment and fintech firms. It made operational resilience a licensing-relevant compliance obligation.
FMA ↗Passed by the National Council on 3 July 2024 and published in Federal Law Gazette I No. 111/2024, the MiCA-Verordnung-Vollzugsgesetz designated the FMA as supervisor and set transitional rules for existing providers. Austria was among the first EU states to put a MiCAR-compliant national framework in place.
FMA ↗An amendment to the Financial Market Authority Act created a formal regulatory sandbox letting fintech, DLT and AI firms test innovative business models under FMA supervision for up to two years. It gave emerging payment and crypto startups a structured path toward licensing.
FMA ↗Implementing the EU's 5th Anti-Money-Laundering Directive, the Financial Markets Anti-Money Laundering Act required crypto exchanges, custodial wallet providers and similar firms to register with the FMA for AML/CTF purposes. It was Austria's first dedicated regulatory touchpoint for crypto businesses.
FMA ↗ZaDiG 2018 implemented the second Payment Services Directive, introducing licensing/supervision for payment initiation and account information service providers and strong customer authentication. It established the modern licensing framework for Austrian payment institutions and fintechs.
FMA ↗Adopted 23 December 2010 and effective 30 April 2011, the E-Geldgesetz transposed Directive 2009/110/EC, creating a dedicated FMA licensing regime for e-money institutions issuing prepaid electronic payment instruments. It remains the legal basis for e-money licensing in Austria.
European Commission ↗Austria - other topics
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