According to some estimates, around 46% of UK financial firms have opened costly EU offices to survive post-Brexit. They have incurred an initial investment of over £350,000 just to replace lost market access. Bruno Pedras, CEO of Belmoney says that this high-stakes compliance burden is pushing smaller fintechs to the brink of forced market exit or insolvency due to crippling capital requirements. He does however have a solution for firms that never fully committed to the expensive option of relocation
Bruno Pedras, CEO, Belmoney, speaks with RBI editor Douglas Blakey
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Instead, he advocates a strategic, tech-enabled workaround that has saved some firms over £500,000 and in the process, bypassed a year of licensing bureaucracy.
Pedras has helped UK fintechs seamlessly expand back into the European Single Market. Specifically, he advocates the development of Remittance-as-a-Service (RaaS) and explains how this innovation acts as a regulatory “plug-and-play” bridge to the EU.
Founded in 2013, Belmoney was created with the mission to transform international money transfers. From day one, it positioned itself as an innovative alternative to traditional banks, combining speed, competitive rates and a strong customer-centric approach. Licensed as a payment institution by the National Bank of Belgium, it began operations under PSD1, operating with security, transparency and full compliance in the European market.
In 2017, the firm established a solid presence in Belgium, Luxembourg and France and in 2019 obtained a PSD2 licence, expanding its operations across all of the EU. Today, it is active in over 130 countries.
The Belmoney Remittance as a service offering, says Pedras, enables firms to expand their payment services across Europe without tackling the regulatory maze or challenging technical headaches.
“RaaS empowers financial companies to launch branded remittance solutions across all 30 EEA countries without the need for their own licence.
Belmoney’s complete solution provides the regulatory, technological and operational infrastructure for firms to operate in Europe quickly, securely and in full compliance. So our clients focus on the customer experience-we handle the backend.
The Shopify or Stripe of remittances
“We call ourselves the Shopify or Stripe of remittances,” Pedras explains. “We provide a very simple ‘Shopify way’ for cross-border payments, allowing companies that lost access to European markets to be operational in less than 30 days. Essentially, we become the ‘version of record’ for those firms. While the clients don’t see Belmoney, we are covering the regulatory heavy lifting, including PCI compliance, list screening, and safeguarding. This allows firms to operate with a low margin where they can scale and find a market fit in weeks.”
Reflecting on the mindset of fintech founders, Pedras notes that a shift in perspective is often needed to survive. “A lot of people have an ego about needing their own license, but they forget the license is just a piece of the cake, where you don’t actually make money. The license itself is nothing if you don’t have clients. I always say that the worst action is non-action. It is vital to make ‘quick errors’ because if you make a quick error, you can go back and start again without losing everything.”
