Digital Payments & Fintech - Bermuda

The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) is the single integrated supervisor for banking, money service business and digital asset business, and is the licensing/supervisory authority for all payments and fintech activity.

The Money Service Business Act 2016 establishes a licensing regime for any person providing money services (e.g. money transmission, payment services, bureau de change) in or from Bermuda, supported by a BMA Statement of Principles and Code of Practice; deposit-taking banks are exempt.

The Digital Asset Business Act 2018 created one of the world's first dedicated crypto-business regimes, offering Test (T), Modified (M) and Full (F) licences; the Digital Asset Issuance Act 2020 regulates token/ICO offerings. The regime remains active, with firms licensed through May 2026.

Following 2025 consultations, the BMA is advancing a Payment Services Act to replace the MSB Act with a tiered, risk-based regime across three categories — Digital Facility Providers, Payment-Handling Providers and Payment Technology Providers — covering digital wallets and back-end technology, with a one-year transition for existing MSBs.

Stablecoin issuers can elect to be licensed under the proposed Payment Services Act or the Digital Asset Business Act depending on their model, and the new PSA is slated to introduce an Artificial Intelligence Payments Hub to test programmable and AI-driven payments.

Bermuda has no dedicated open-banking mandate, domestic instant-payment rail, or specific buy-now-pay-later statute; such activities are addressed (if at all) through the general MSB/DAB licensing framework rather than bespoke rules, with the proposed PSA aimed at broadening coverage of modern payment models.