Fintech & payments regulation in Seychelles (2026)

The Central Bank of Seychelles is mandated to license, regulate and oversee the National Payment System under the National Payment System Act 2014 (as amended, consolidated), which provides the legal basis for payment services and electronic money.

The National Payment System (Licensing and Authorisation) Regulations 2014 set out licensing, reporting, applicable licences, offences and penalties for payment services, expressly including the issuance of electronic money and e-money instruments; PSPs must keep a full-time Seychelles-based compliance officer and file annually audited accounts.

Licensing is operational, not theoretical: CBS continues to grant PSP authorisations, for example, Fusepay was approved by the CBS as a licensed Payment Service Provider and went live in November 2025.

Interbank transfers run through the Seychelles Electronic Funds Transfer (SEFT) system, implemented by the CBS with commercial banks and the Seychelles Credit Union; mobile-wallet services (e.g. Airtel Money) support instant transfers, bill payment and QR-code payments. CBS has no separately branded national instant-payment 'fast rail' confirmed in official sources.

The Virtual Asset Service Providers Act 2024 came into force on 1 September 2024, requiring exchanges, wallet providers, brokers and token issuers operating in or from Seychelles to be licensed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), with physical presence, a resident director, paid-in capital and AML/CFT compliance; certain activities (e.g. mixing services) are prohibited.

Official sources show no dedicated open-banking framework (no mandated API access / data-sharing regime) and no specific buy-now-pay-later regulation; such activity falls under general CBS payment, banking and consumer-protection rules rather than a bespoke statute. The reforms align with CBS's payment-system modernisation plan and fintech strategy.