A legal entity authorised by Banka Slovenije under the Payment Services, Services for Issuing Electronic Money and Payment Systems Act (ZPlaSSIED) to provide one or more of the PSD2 payment services as its core business activity. The Act allows so-called hybrid payment institutions, which may carry on other commercial activities alongside the regulated one. A PI is not a credit institution: it may not take deposits, and it may not grant credit beyond the narrow ancillary credit window PSD2 permits in connection with the execution of payment transactions.

Initial capital under ZPlaSSIED follows the three PSD2 tiers: EUR 20,000 for money-remittance-only firms, EUR 50,000 for payment-initiation-only firms, and EUR 125,000 for institutions running the broader execution, issuing, acquiring, or account-servicing services. Beyond initial capital, own funds must be maintained on an ongoing basis under one of the three PSD2 calculation methods. Banka Slovenije sets the applicable method during supervisory review and can revisit it as the institution’s volume profile changes; that is one of the reasons own-funds adequacy is read closely at qualifying-holding stage.

Yes. The PSD2 passporting regime applies in full — a Slovenian PI can provide payment services into any other EU/EEA state by way of either freedom of services or a branch, subject to the standard Banka Slovenije notification to the host competent authority. The passport covers the services in the original Slovenian authorisation and nothing beyond; if you want to add a service later, the supervisor amends the authorisation first and only then can the host-state notification be updated.

Any acquirer crossing the qualifying-holding thresholds in a Slovenian PI needs prior Banka Slovenije approval. The submission covers the buyer’s identity and group structure, source of funds, fit-and-proper proof on the new beneficial owners and proposed management, and the business plan for the entity post-closing. The supervisor will not waive the assessment because the seller wants a fast close; the prudent path is to submit early, keep the file complete, and let the review run while the commercial documentation is finalised.

The European Parliament and Council reached provisional political agreement on PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation on 27 November 2025. National implementation is expected around 2027–2028. PSD3 folds electronic-money institutions into the PI framework as a sub-category and tightens conduct rules through the directly applicable PSR. For an acquirer today, the read is practical: a clean Slovenian PI authorisation is a forward-compatible asset, but the buyer’s hundred-day plan should already include PSR readiness — strong customer authentication, fraud-data sharing, IBAN-name verification — that Banka Slovenije will look for before the directive transposes.

The economics rarely favour acquisition over fresh authorisation on a pure-cost line. The case is about time, deal certainty on banking, and the optionality of stepping into an existing safeguarding relationship that a fresh applicant would have to negotiate from scratch. Buyers who need to be in market in months rather than 12 to 18, and buyers who value a clean supervisory record more than a clean balance sheet, are the ones for whom the acquisition route lands. A single-founder fintech with a long runway and no immediate revenue commitments usually does not need it.