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Central Bank of Ireland register for PIs and EMIs

Fintech Passport

October 29, 2026 · 11-min read

Central Bank of Ireland register for PIs and EMIs

The Central Bank of Ireland register for payment institutions and e-money institutions, published at registers.centralbank.ie, is the public record of which firms Ireland has authorised or registered for payment services, what they may do, where they passport and which agents act for them. It shows your licence the way banks, schemes and partners see it, and it is the first stop when you check an Irish counterparty.

1. Where the law puts the register

Payment institutions. Regulation 25 of the European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018 (S.I. No. 6 of 2018, the PSR) requires the Central Bank to keep a public register. It covers payment institutions and their agents, persons exempted under Regulations 41 and 42 and their agents, credit unions, and the providers that notify the limited-network or electronic-communications exclusions under Regulations 45 and 46. Branches of Irish payment institutions in other member states must be listed as well.
E-money institutions. Regulation 7 of the European Communities (Electronic Money) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 183 of 2011, the EMR) requires a register of e-money institutions and their agents and branches. It also covers credit unions approved to issue e-money and small e-money institutions registered under Regulation 33, each listed separately.

Both registers must show each firm’s payment services and be online and up to date. Under PSR Regulation 25(6), and the paragraph 2A that the PSR inserted into EMR Regulation 7, every withdrawal of an authorisation, exemption or waiver goes on the register. PSR Regulation 26 and the new EMR Regulation 7A require the Central Bank to pass each entry to the European Banking Authority (EBA) without delay and to keep that data accurate.

2. The registers site: three ways in

registers.centralbank.ie holds registers for every sector the Central Bank regulates. For payments there are three ways in.

Financial Service Providers search. Search by full or partial name, then narrow by type and sub-type. Under Payment Services Firms, the sub-types are Payment Institutions PSD2, Registered AISP and Payment Services Credit Unions. Under E-Money Firms, they are E-Money Institutions, E-Money Credit Unions, Small E-Money Institutions, Registered Small EMI PSD2 and E-Money PSD2. A separate type, Excluded Service Provider, covers the notified exclusions.
Payment Services Agents search. Search by agent name and filter by country. The search runs across the Central Bank’s payment services registers, so it finds agents of firms the Central Bank registered. It does not find agents of firms authorised in other member states.
Downloads. Separate files for the Register of Payment Institutions, the Register of Account Information Service Providers, the Register of Electronic Money Institutions and the Register of Small Electronic Money Institutions. There are also two credit union registers, one under each set of regulations. Each file carries an “as at” date, which was 8 October 2026 for all four when we checked.

On 29 October 2026 the search returned 32 entries for Payment Institutions PSD2, 31 for E-Money PSD2, 7 for Registered AISP and 184 for Payment Services Credit Unions.

3. How to read an entry

An entry has two layers. The profile page gives the name, the reference number, any trading names and the entity type. The entity type comes with a line naming its legal basis, for example authorisation under Regulation 18 of the PSR, or under Regulation 9 of the EMR. Click through to the register data page for the detail:

Reference No. A C-number; agents carry their own. Record it in your files.
Address. Labelled with its type: registered office, head office or principal business address. Match it against the Companies Registration Office record.
Authorisation Date and Date Authorisation Withdrawn. If the second field is filled in, the firm no longer holds the licence, whatever its website says.
Payment Services. Numbered as in the Schedule to the PSR: 3(b) card payments, 3(c) credit transfers, 5 issuing and acquiring, 7 payment initiation, 8 account information.
Other Jurisdictions. Each host country, with a “basis of establishment” of either Freedom Of Service or Freedom of Establishment. The second means a branch or other establishment in that country.
Agents. Either a table of agents (reference number, name and address), or a count of agents per country that links to the full list.
Page last updated on. Record it with any screenshot you keep.

4. Agents, branches and distributors

Agents get onto the register through their principal. Under PSR Regulation 30(1), a payment institution sends the agent’s name and address, its AML/CFT controls, its managers (with fitness and probity evidence for agents that are not themselves payment service providers), its mandated services and any identification code. The Central Bank has two months to say whether the agent has been entered on the register. It can verify the information, and it will not list the agent if it remains unsatisfied. Under Regulation 30(3), an agent may not start providing payment services until it is on the register. EMR Regulation 21, as substituted in 2018, applies the same rules to agents of e-money institutions.

Agents and branches in other member states go through the passport procedure in PSR Regulation 37 (EMR Regulation 26 for e-money institutions):

the firm notifies the Central Bank at least three months before it starts;
the Central Bank sends the notification to the host authority within one month;
the Central Bank decides within three months, and the agent or branch may start once it is entered on the register;
the firm then tells the Central Bank the date activity began.

The Central Bank publishes forms for passport notifications, agent commencement and changes.

Distributors are different. Under EMR Regulation 20, an e-money institution may distribute and redeem e-money through distributors or agents, but it may never issue e-money through them. Regulation 7(1) lists agents and branches but not distributors, and the register data page has no distributor field. If a distributor is missing from registers.centralbank.ie, that proves nothing either way. Our piece on PSD2 agents and distributors covers what that means for liability.

5. EEA firms passporting into Ireland

Under PSR Regulation 6(1)(k) and (2), a payment institution authorised in another member state may provide payment services in Ireland once the Central Bank has received notice under the passport procedure. When the Central Bank receives a notification from a home authority, Regulation 37(4) gives it one month to assess it and reply. Regulation 37(5) requires it to raise any money laundering or terrorist financing concerns about the planned agent or branch.

Do not expect to find those firms on registers.centralbank.ie. The Central Bank says EEA payment institutions that notified under Article 25 of PSD2 appear on their home member state’s register, and its search filters have no inbound-passport category. Nor does it prudentially supervise Irish branches of firms authorised elsewhere. Use the home register first and the EBA register as the cross-check.

6. The EBA central register as a cross-check

Article 15 of PSD2 (Directive (EU) 2015/2366) requires the EBA to run a central register. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/410 sets the details and structure of the information that national authorities send to it. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/411 sets the technical rules for building, operating and accessing it. It covers nine categories, from payment and e-money institutions and their exempted versions to agents, EEA branches and excluded providers.

The EBA reproduces what national authorities send, updated at least daily, and says that, unlike national registers, its register has no legal significance and confers no rights. For an Irish firm the Central Bank register is the record.

Source	Kept by	What it shows	Use it to
registers.centralbank.ie (PSR Reg. 25, EMR Reg. 7)	Central Bank of Ireland	Irish PIs, EMIs, small EMIs, AISPs, credit unions, excluded providers; services, host states, agents	Verify an Irish firm’s licence, scope and passports
EBA register (PSD2 Art. 15; Reg. (EU) 2019/410 and 2019/411)	EBA, from national authorities’ data	PIs, EMIs, exempted firms, AISPs, agents and branches across the EEA	Check inbound EEA firms and agents abroad
Home member state register	Home authority	The firm’s authorisation and its notified passports, Ireland included	Primary source for an EEA firm serving Ireland
Warning notices	Central Bank of Ireland	Firms the Central Bank has warned are not authorised	Screen names and websites before onboarding

7. Keeping your own entry right

Your entry reflects what you have notified and the Central Bank has processed, so a wrong entry is fixed by the right filing.

Authorisation data. PSR Regulation 27 requires a payment institution to tell the Central Bank without undue delay of any change that affects the accuracy of the information it gave when it applied.
Agents. Regulation 30(1)(b) requires the AML/CFT description for an agent to be updated without delay after a material change. EMR Regulation 22A(2) requires e-money institutions to report changes in their use of agents, including new agents, without undue delay.
Passports. PSR Regulation 37(2) and EMR Regulation 26(2) require changes to a notified passport, including new agents or branches, to be reported without undue delay.
Name, address and services. The Central Bank’s amendments guidance for e-money institutions says a change of company name needs its approval before anything is filed with the Companies Registration Office. A change of address must be notified in advance, and adding regulated services needs prior approval.

No turnaround time is published, so log each request and recheck.

8. What the register does not tell you

Distributors. E-money distributors have no field on the entry.
Inbound EEA firms. Their passport sits on the home register, as section 5 explains.
Agent mandates. The agent list gives the reference number, name and address. It does not give the services each agent is mandated for.
Safeguarding, outsourcing and owners. Safeguarding method, outsourcing arrangements and qualifying holders are not shown. Beneficial owners are in the separate RBO register.
Real-time status. Each page and download is accurate only as of its own date.

9. Worked cases

A Dublin agent that wants to go live Monday

Facts: an Irish payment institution notifies a retail chain as its agent under Regulation 30. The chain wants to start next week.

What the rule says: the Central Bank has two months to confirm the listing. Under Regulation 30(3) the agent may not start until its details are entered on the register.

What the practitioner does: holds the launch until the chain appears in the Payment Services Agents search with its own C-number, then switches on access.

Outcome: a dated record that go-live followed the listing.

An EEA e-money institution that says it is “regulated in Ireland”

Facts: an e-money institution authorised in another member state offers card issuing to an Irish firm. Its pack says it is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, but it is not in the E-Money Firms search.

What the rule says: the firm operates on its home authorisation. Inbound EEA firms appear on the home register, and the Central Bank is not their prudential supervisor.

What the practitioner does: checks the home register for an authorisation and an Irish passport, cross-checks the EBA register and the warning notices, and records all three with dates.

Outcome: the file names the real supervisor, and the contract corrects the claim.

A counterparty serving the wrong market

Facts: an Irish payment institution proposes to offer credit transfers to Spanish merchants through a partner’s platform.

What the rule says: under PSR Regulation 6(3) a payment institution may not provide a service its authorisation does not cover. A first-time cross-border service needs the Regulation 37 notification.

What the practitioner does: confirms on the register data page that 3(c) is listed and that Spain appears under Other Jurisdictions on the right basis.

Outcome: if either is missing, the deal waits for the variation or the passport notification.

10. FAQ

Which regulations require the Central Bank of Ireland register?

Regulation 25 of S.I. No. 6 of 2018 for payment institutions, and Regulation 7 of S.I. No. 183 of 2011 for e-money institutions. Both require an online register that is kept up to date and that shows each firm’s authorised services.

Are agents listed?

Yes. Agents of Irish firms appear on the principal’s entry, either directly or by country, each with its own C-number. They can also be found through the Payment Services Agents search.

Are e-money distributors listed?

No field exists for them. Regulation 7(1) of the EMR names agents and branches only, so verify a distributor through the issuer.

Do EEA firms passporting into Ireland appear?

The Central Bank says they appear on their home member state’s register. Use that register, with the EBA register as the cross-check.

What is the C-number?

The Central Bank reference number shown on every entry, agents included. Record it with each check.

11. What to do, today

COO: open your own entry and check the address type, the services, the Other Jurisdictions list and the agents against your authorisation and passport files.
Agent network owner: make each go-live depend on the agent appearing under your entry with its C-number, and reconcile your agent list against the register every quarter.
Head of partnerships: make a dated check of the national register, the EBA register and the warning notices a condition of every payments contract.
MLRO: keep agents and distributors in separate inventories, each with its legal basis and the evidence of notification.
Head of reporting: track each change notification until the register shows it, alongside your Central Bank Portal returns.