Solaris Banking License
Full banking or electronic money license: What are the differences?
Solaris is fully licensed for seamless banking across Europe and EEA countries.
We obtained a full German banking license (CRR) in 2017, making it the first completely cloud-based Banking-as-a-Service provider in Germany.
Discover how our setup compares to an EMI license and what our partners gain from it.
What is a full banking license?
A full banking license – also known as a CRR credit institution license – grants official permission to operate a credit institution or a bank-like entity.
Holding a full banking license ensures that a financial institution meets all legal requirements to protect customer assets and data while complying with strict government regulations.
Any entity wishing to conduct banking operations in Europe must obtain a license from a European financial supervisory authority. The institution must fulfill rigorous criteria, including maintaining financial reserves and secure data infrastructure.
A CRR license offers significantly broader capabilities than an E-Money Institution (EMI) license, including full deposit-taking and lending services—ensuring greater flexibility, scalability, and financial security.
What is an e-money license?
E-money license is colloquially used as a synonym for EMI. An electronic money institution license is the official permission granted to an institution by the financial supervisory authorities, allowing it to conduct financial transactions through the disbursement of electronic money.
Electronic money, also known as e-money, is subject to banking supervision law because it acts as a digital equivalent of cash. As the officially recognized equivalent of a country's official currency, it offers users binding legal security standards.
E-money is stored in EMI or bank computer systems to facilitate electronic transactions.
A permission to operate an e-money business granted in one European country can also be used for business operations in all other countries of the European Union.
Additional Information
What financial services and products can be offered with a German CRR license?
CRR banks, like Solaris, are under stricter regulatory supervision, ensuring financial stability and the safety of customer funds. With the ability to offer fully regulated banking products, customers benefit from a broader and more secure financial offering.
With the CRR license:
- Offer payment services
- Manage customers' deposits
- Offer bank checking accounts
- Offer interest-bearing accounts
- Issue credit cards, and debit cards
- Offer consumer loans, and other lending products
- Offer other financial services products such as bancassurance and wealth management
With an EMI license, it is not possible to offer full banking services like overdrafts or salary deposits, since e-money institutions are not allowed to hold customer funds as deposits.
EMI institutions are not allowed to use their own funds for lending. They cannot offer securities services, e.g. trading stocks, bonds, or other investment products. EMI institutions cannot pay interest on customer funds or store them as deposits.
Are all financial products secure?
The deposits of your customers under the CRR license are protected by the German Deposit Guarantee Act up to an amount of EUR 100,000.
Can Solaris provide services within the EU and EEA?
Thanks to passporting rights, Solaris can seamlessly operate across all EU and EEA countries with its full German banking license.
Under European financial regulations, a banking license issued in one EU country grants the right to offer financial products and services in other EU member states and the European Economic Area (EEA). This ensures secure, compliant, and scalable banking solutions across borders.
With our German CRR banking license, we provide regulated banking services throughout the EEA, empowering businesses with fast, secure, and flexible financial solutions.