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Payment Facilitators, Aggregators and ISOs: Who Is Responsible for Sub-Merchants
A payment company onboards many small sellers under one agreement with a bank. If one of them breaks the rules, it is not only the seller who answers. We explain in plain words how a PayFac (also known as a payment aggregator), an ISO and a marketplace differ, who is responsible to Visa and Mastercard…
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KYC and KYB for Payment Providers: Building a Risk-Based Customer Due Diligence Programme
Know your customer (KYC) and know your business (KYB) are the checks a payment company runs on its clients before and during the relationship. Banks, card schemes and supervisors judge you by how well you do them. From 10 July 2027 one EU regulation, the Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR), replaces the different national rules. This…
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Hiring a Software Contractor: Who Owns the Code and What the Contract Must Say
A company commissions development from a freelancer or a studio, pays against acceptance certificates and assumes the code is its own. The law does not always agree. In many countries the rights in a contractor’s software must be assigned in a written contract, or they stay with the author. We go through how this works…
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Publishing an App on the App Store and Google Play: What the Platforms Require from a Developer in 2026
Publishing an app on the App Store and Google Play is more than uploading a build. The platforms check who you are as a developer, how the app collects data, how it makes money and whether it changes after approval. In 2026 Apple updated its review guidelines three times and its developer agreement four times,…
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EMI and Payment Institution Licence in the EU, UK and Canada
A payments business starts with choosing a regime. In the EU it is a PI or EMI licence, in the UK FCA (UK Financial Conduct Authority) authorisation, in Canada registration as a payment service provider with the Bank of Canada. We cover capital, timelines, safeguarding and what PSD3 changes. Minimum capital in the EU is…
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DeFi and DAOs: Who Is Liable for a Decentralized Project
Calling a project decentralized does not remove liability. US courts have already treated DAOs as associations or partnerships.