The KNF authorisation process for a fresh KIP runs around six months from filing to decision, with banking, board fit-and-proper assessment, and AML build-out adding several months more. Acquiring an existing KIP replaces the authorisation timeline with a qualifying-holding approval (assessment of the incoming beneficial owners under Article 30 UUP), while keeping the entity, its safeguarding banks, and its existing AML programme intact. The acquirer’s diligence and source-of-funds file becomes the centre of gravity, not the licence build.

The KIP (Krajowa Instytucja Płatnicza) is the full Polish Payment Institution under Article 60 of the UUP. It carries the EU passport, takes the full PSD2 service scope, and has no turnover cap. The MIP (Mała Instytucja Płatnicza, the small payment institution) is the Article 117f domestic register with a monthly volume cap of EUR 1.5m averaged over twelve months and no passporting right. An international acquirer almost always needs a KIP; the MIP is a domestic-Polish wrapper.

Yes. A KIP holds full PSD2 passporting under Title III of PSD2 as transposed into the UUP. The Polish institution notifies KNF of the intent to provide services in a host state, KNF transmits to the host supervisor (BaFin, ACPR and so on), and after the one-month notification period the institution may provide payment services into that state either on a freedom-of-services basis or via a tied agent / branch. Polish-supervised entities are routinely operating across the EU.

Initial capital starts at the PLN equivalent of EUR 125,000 for the full PSD2 service set and is calibrated upward per Article 64 UUP by service combination — money remittance only sits lower; the full execution / acquiring set sits at the EUR 125,000 line. Safeguarding follows PSD2: client funds either segregated in a dedicated bank account at an authorised credit institution, or covered by an insurance policy or comparable guarantee from an authorised undertaking. Polish banks are familiar with both routes.

An acquirer crossing the qualifying-holding thresholds (10%, 20%, 33%, 50%) under Article 30 of the UUP files a prior notification with KNF. The supervisor assesses the acquirer on the PSD2 five-criteria test — reputation, financial soundness, ability to ensure prudent management, AML/CFT risk, and impact on supervisory effectiveness — and has a statutory window to object. Where the file is clean, KNF does not object and the transaction closes. The notification is mandatory; closing without it is not an option.

The PSD3 directive and PSR regulation are at the final-text stage with Official Journal publication expected in H1 2026 and a 21-month transition window. The core authorisation framework, qualifying-holding rules, and safeguarding architecture carry over substantially from PSD2 with refinements around fraud allocation, open-finance access, and PI/EMI convergence. For acquirers transacting in 2026, the operative law is still the UUP as it stands; the PSD3 transposition affects post-2027 operations and is not a reason to delay an acquisition.