UK payments provider Ryft wins FCA licence

Ryft Pay Ltd is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an authorised payment institution. Our firm reference number is 972895, and anyone can check our entry on the FCA register. We were authorised in April 2023, and in 2026 we process payments for 6,500+ businesses across the UK and Europe.

‍

This page sets out our registration details, what authorisation means in practice, and what it does not cover. We have written it for platforms, marketplaces and merchants who want a clear answer before choosing a payment partner.

Ryft's FCA registration details

The table below matches the details shown on our FCA register entry. If anything on the register differs from this page, the register is the authoritative source.

‍

‍

‍

How to check Ryft on the FCA register

The FCA register is a free public record of every firm the FCA authorises or registers. You can search it by firm name or reference number; our entry sits under Ryft Pay Ltd, number 972895.

When you open the entry, check that the status reads "Authorised" and the firm type is a payment institution. The permissions section then lists the specific payment services we are allowed to provide. The register also shows any trading names and the date our status took effect.

What an authorised payment institution is

An authorised payment institution is a firm approved by the FCA to provide payment services in the UK. The rules come from the Payment Services Regulations 2017, which brought the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) into UK law.

Smaller firms can instead register as small payment institutions, with lighter requirements and a cap on volume. Authorised payment institutions meet the full set of rules and have no such cap on what they process.

Those rules cover capital, governance, safeguarding of customer funds, anti-money laundering controls, and regular reporting to the FCA. Senior managers must show they are fit and proper to run a regulated firm. Authorisation is also ongoing: the FCA supervises firms continuously and can restrict permissions if a firm falls short.

Securing our authorisation took around a year and a half of preparation and review. You can read more about the wider rules in our guide to PSD2 in 2026.

What changed for payment institutions in 2026

The FCA's new safeguarding rules for payment and e-money firms came into force on 7 May 2026. The rules sit in a new FCA Handbook chapter, CASS 15, and apply to authorised payment institutions like Ryft.

The changes add more checks on how customer funds are protected day to day. Requirements include daily safeguarding reconciliations, an annual external safeguarding audit for most firms, and a monthly FCA return.

For businesses using an authorised payment institution, this means closer, more frequent oversight of funds in your payment flows. Further reforms remain on hold whilst the government reviews wider payments legislation. We will update this page if the rules change again.

What FCA authorisation means for platforms and marketplaces

Our authorisation lets Ryft act as the regulated payment facilitator for the platforms and marketplaces we work with. Their sellers and sub-merchants onboard onto Ryft, with identity and anti-money laundering checks handled inside our platform.

For many businesses, this reduces the regulatory burden of moving money between buyers, sellers and the platform. It also gives sellers a single, regulated route to get paid, rather than a patchwork of separate providers. You can see how it works on our seller onboarding and split payments pages.

Your platform still keeps some responsibilities, and the right setup depends on how money flows through your business. If you are unsure whether your model needs its own authorisation, take independent legal advice alongside your conversations with us.

What FCA authorisation does not cover

As an authorised payment institution, Ryft must safeguard relevant funds we receive, keeping them separate from our own money. Safeguarded funds are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which protects bank and building society deposits.

FCA authorisation also applies to the regulated payment services we provide, not to every part of our business. Our PCI DSS Level 1 certification, for example, is a card industry security standard rather than an FCA requirement.

Outside the UK, Ryft has applied for an EU licence from the Malta Financial Services Authority. If granted, this would let Ryft passport its services across the European Economic Area.

‍

‍

If you would like to talk through how Ryft's authorisation applies to your platform, our team is happy to help. Get in touch with our payments team and we will walk you through it.

‍