Payhawk, a Bulgarian spend management platform, has been granted an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) Licence in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

The new licence will allow the FinTech to issue electronic money, facilitate digital payments and issue cards to UK customers.

Payhawk already holds an EMI licence covering the EEA.

Payhawk has also expanded its leadership team, with Gareth Walsh joining the firm as group chief compliance officer. He previously worked at SumUp, where he held several executive positions over eleven years.

Maor Fishman has taken on the role as general counsel, he joins Payhawk from Checkout.com.

Pedro Barisa has also joined Payhawk and is responsible for regulated activities in the UK and serves as chief executive.

“Our company's strong product DNA allows us to quickly launch new, high-quality features for our customers, and the new UK license unlocks new possibilities for us,” said Hristo Borisov, chief executive and co-founder of Payhawk. “By controlling more of the payment process stack for our customers, we can optimise the infrastructure to address the needs of our client base — further accelerating development velocity and innovation.”

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