Services—Licence application advisory — Bank of Thailand
Licence application advisory: Bank of Thailand
Advisory for companies applying for licences for payment and e-money services, supervised lending and other businesses under the supervision of the Bank of Thailand. You apply; we prepare the business, the file and the controls the regulator will test with you.
Who this is for
- Fintechs launching e-money, payment acceptance or fund-transfer services
- Lenders entering personal loan, nano finance or digital lending
- Corporate groups adding a payment or lending line to an existing business
- Licensed providers adding a new service or preparing for an inspection
Licence types covered
Payment, lending and related businesses.
| Licence type | Framework | Typical applicant | What we help you prepare |
|---|---|---|---|
| E-money | Payment Systems Act B.E. 2560 | Wallets and stored-value services | Safeguarding of customer funds, e-money controls, IT risk, AML/CFT programme |
| Payment acceptance / payment facilitator | Payment Systems Act B.E. 2560 | Merchant acquiring and payment gateways | Merchant risk policy, settlement and reconciliation controls, fraud monitoring |
| Fund transfer and e-payment services | Payment Systems Act B.E. 2560 | Transfer and bill-payment platforms | Transaction monitoring, operational resilience, outsourcing arrangements |
| Payment system operator | Payment Systems Act B.E. 2560 | Clearing, switching and settlement platforms | Governance, settlement risk, business continuity, participant rules |
| Personal loan / nano finance | BOT-supervised lending | Consumer and micro-business lenders | Credit policy, responsible lending, collections conduct, interest and fee controls |
| Digital personal loan | BOT-supervised lending | App-based lenders using alternative data | Credit model governance, IT risk, data protection, customer communication |
| Money changer / international money transfer | Foreign exchange business | Exchange counters and remittance providers | KYC and AML/CFT, transaction reporting, cash and liquidity controls |
Where the controls sit
Follow the money. Every hand-off needs a control.
Payer1
pays in
Your platformWallet, gateway or transfer service2
settles out
Merchant / payee5
Customer funds accountHeld separately from company money3
settles via
Settlement bank4
- 1OnboardingKYC and customer risk rating before the first payment
- 2Transaction monitoringFraud rules, limits and suspicious-activity reporting
- 3SafeguardingCustomer money kept separate and reconciled daily
- 4SettlementSettlement and reconciliation with the bank, with breaks resolved
- 5Customer treatmentFees, disclosures and complaint handling
What we deliver
A file that answers the questions the supervisor will ask.
- 01
Eligibility and gap analysis
Shareholding, capital, directors and key persons, systems and outsourcing — scored against the conditions.
- 02
Business plan and financial projections
Volumes, revenue model, capital and liquidity, safeguarding of customer funds and contingency.
- 03
Policy and procedure set
Governance, risk, compliance, AML/CFT, IT risk, outsourcing, business continuity, PDPA, market conduct and complaints.
- 04
Systems and controls documentation
Architecture, reconciliation, fraud and transaction monitoring, control matrices and the operating model.
- 05
Submission review and Q&A support
Consistency check across every document, then prepared responses to regulator questions through to a decision.
Typical phases
Indicative durations — set in your assessment.
01 Assess
02 Design
03 Apply
Regulator reviewRegulator's timeline
04 OperateOngoing
Readiness checklist · preview
- Company structure, shareholding and capital meet the licence conditions
- Arrangement for safeguarding customer funds decided
- Directors and key persons identified and screened for fit-and-proper criteria
- Core platform and outsourcing arrangements documented
- Fraud, transaction monitoring and complaint handling designed
- + the full checklist, shared after your assessment
Questions we are asked first
Straight answers, before the first meeting.
Is my service regulated by the Bank of Thailand at all?
It depends on how money moves: who holds customer funds, who settles, and whether credit is extended. The assessment maps your flows to the relevant framework, and flags where the SEC or another authority may also be involved.
How long will approval take?
The regulator sets its own review timeline and decides independently. What we control is the quality and consistency of the file and how quickly questions are answered. Our phases are planned in weeks, and the plan is set in your assessment.
Can we use a third-party platform?
Usually, yes — but the outsourcing has to be governed. We document the arrangement, the oversight and the exit plan so they stand up to review.
What do you need from us to begin?
A description of the service and money flows, the intended shareholders and key people, and where you are in planning. A 30-minute call is enough to set the scope.
Do you stay involved after the licence is granted?
If you want us to. Ongoing support covers go-live readiness, interim compliance, inspection preparation and regulatory change monitoring.