A payment institution (établissement de paiement) is the PSD2-derived authorisation issued by the ACPR under Articles L.522-1 et seq. of the Code monétaire et financier. It permits the institution to provide the PSD2 Annex I payment services — money remittance, payment-initiation services, execution of direct debits and credit transfers, card-based payment transactions, acquiring, issuance of payment instruments, account-information services, and the ancillary services tied to payment provision. A French PI does not take deposits and does not issue electronic money; e-money issuance sits under the separate electronic money institution authorisation under Article L.526-7 CMF. Standard PI authorisation carries the EU/EEA passport on a notification basis. The simplified PI track under L.522-11-1 is a different, smaller regime with no passport.

The PSD2 Article 7 schedule, transposed into French law without national variation. EUR 20,000 covers only money-remittance activity. EUR 50,000 covers only payment-initiation services. EUR 125,000 covers the full account-based payment-services menu including card acquiring and card issuing. An AISP-only entity carries no initial capital floor but must hold professional indemnity insurance sized to the EBA Guidelines under PSD2 Article 5(4). Most acquirers are working against the EUR 125,000 threshold because the post-close service mix typically reaches into card or account-execution services. Ongoing own funds are calculated on a continuous basis under one of the three PSD2 methods (A, B, or C). ACPR sizes the operating buffer to the business plan; credible cross-border passport ambition typically calls for an operating capital base above the statutory floor.

Yes. An ACPR-authorised standard PI passports under PSD2 by notification through ACPR to the host competent authority. Both cross-border services and the establishment of branches, agents, and distributors are available across the EU 27 and the wider EEA. Common host markets for French PIs are Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, and the wider Romance-language European corridor. The passporting notification is administrative; it is not a second authorisation file in the host country. The simplified PI track under L.522-11-1, by contrast, does not carry the passport — that is the structural reason most acquirer briefs target standard PI authorisations rather than simplified ones.

The simplified PI regime under Article L.522-11-1 CMF is the French transposition of the PSD2 small-PI option (Member-State derogation under PSD2 Article 32). Eligibility is limited to institutions whose monthly average of payment transactions, calculated over the preceding twelve months, does not exceed EUR 3 million, and whose service scope does not include money remittance. Prudential requirements are adjusted (lighter own-funds calculation, simplified governance). The trade-off: the simplified track does not carry the EU/EEA passport, and the activity scope cap is structurally binding on growth. For acquirers whose post-close thesis is single-country French operation under a narrow service scope, the simplified track is workable; for any cross-border or scale ambition, only the standard PI fits.

A qualifying-holding notification under the regime transposed from PSD2 Article 6 into the CMF. Thresholds are 10%, 20%, 30%, and 50%, plus any move that hands the buyer control of the licensed entity. ACPR assesses fit-and-proper standing of beneficial owners and the proposed dirigeants effectifs, financial soundness and source of funds, group structure transparency, the strategic plan for the PI post-acquisition, and AML/CFT integration. The assessment clock under the EBA/ESMA/EIOPA Joint Guidelines on Prudential Assessment of Acquisitions is sixty working days from a complete file, extendable by thirty working days where supplementary information is sought. ACPR consults the home supervisor of any EU-regulated acquirer through the EBA channels and bilateral colleges, and works with Tracfin where the acquirer profile triggers a direct AML-side review. Closing on the SPA is conditional on ACPR non-objection.

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached provisional political agreement on PSD3 and the directly-applicable Payment Services Regulation on 27 November 2025. Publication in the Official Journal is expected in H1 2026; the PSR will apply 20 days after publication, while PSD3 requires national transposition over an 18-month window with applicability targeted for Q2/Q3 2028. The reform tightens fraud-liability rules, expands strong-customer-authentication scope, and consolidates supervisory expectations on outsourcing and ICT risk. For an acquirer evaluating an ACPR-supervised PI today, the practical implication is that the entity acquired in 2026 is being acquired into the tail-end of the PSD2 regime; the integration plan must already account for PSR direct-effect obligations applying within months of completion, and the change-of-control file should anticipate ACPR’s reading of the target’s PSR-readiness as part of the substantive review. We screen targets on PSD3/PSR readiness as part of standing diligence.