Fintech & digital payments rules in Iceland (2026)

Payment institutions and EMIs must obtain authorisation from the Central Bank of Iceland, which absorbed the Financial Supervisory Authority (FME) in 2020. Licences are EEA-passportable, enabling cross-border services without re-authorisation in each member state.

PSD2 was implemented into Icelandic law and took effect in early 2022, requiring banks to provide third-party access APIs. Iceland adopted the Berlin Group NextGenPSD2 standard, though regulators have not issued detailed implementation guidance, leaving open banking a low priority compared to other EEA peers.

Iceland operates a live instant payment infrastructure (EXP component) within the Greiðsluveitan platform run by the CBI, processing transactions in under 40 milliseconds on a system built with SIA. The CBI has assessed joining the Eurosystem's TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) service.

In June 2019, the FME (now CBI) issued the world's first EMI licence specifically for e-money issuance on public blockchains, granted to Monerium EMI ehf. under the EU EMD2 framework, establishing Iceland as an early regulatory innovator in crypto-native payment models.

Existing crypto-asset service providers in Iceland entered an 18-month MiCA transitional period from 30 December 2024, with full MiCA authorisation required by 1 July 2026. DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) entered into force in Iceland on 1 November 2025, alongside CBI rules incorporating associated EU regulatory technical standards.

There is no standalone BNPL-specific regulation in Iceland; deferred-payment credit products fall under the transposed EU Consumer Credit Directive. The updated Consumer Credit Directive 2 (CCD2), which extends pre-contract disclosure and affordability-check rules to BNPL, is expected to be incorporated into EEA/Icelandic law following standard EEA Joint Committee procedures.