One Dutch entity, thirty countries: the EU route for US fintechs

American payments companies grow up with state-by-state money transmitter licensing — fifty regulators for one country. Europe inverts that arithmetic: one licence from one supervisor passports across thirty EEA countries. For US fintechs the Dutch route has become the standard way in, with DNB as supervisor and the continent's deepest payments ecosystem around it.

The structure mirrors what scaled US players have built: a US parent, a Dutch BV as the European regulated entity, and the passport carrying the product from Lisbon to Helsinki under one authorisation.

The single-licence arithmetic

A payment institution licence (initial capital €20,000–€125,000 by service) or an e-money licence (€350,000) from DNB covers the EEA on notification. Client funds run under the Dutch safeguarding regime, European merchants contract with a European entity, and the compliance stack — PSD2 today, PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation as Brussels finalises them — is built once instead of per country.

Why US fintechs land in the Netherlands

English is the working language of Dutch business and of the supervisory dialogue. The ecosystem produced Europe's payments leaders, so the talent, banking partners and compliance specialists are a working market. Amsterdam runs on US-friendly rails — direct flights to every hub, a deep American business community — and the Netherlands–US tax treaty governs the group structure. For crypto products, MiCA authorisation through the AFM passports the same way: the MiCA route.

The entity comes first

The supervisory file opens with ownership, governance and substance. We build the BV with the shareholding chain documented for qualifying-holding declarations, directors prepared for fit-and-proper assessment, and genuine Dutch establishment. The full landscape: a Dutch entity for payments.

Setting up in the Netherlands

A Dutch BV is incorporated by notarial deed and registered with the Chamber of Commerce (KvK); incorporation runs remotely by power of attorney. Holdwise builds the entity and the group structure — ownership chain, substance, governance documentation — and the licence application itself runs with specialised regulatory counsel, coordinated in writing. The wider route: EU market entry.

Frequently asked questions

How does EU payments licensing compare to US state licensing?

One licence from one supervisor covers 30 EEA countries through passporting — the inverse of the US state-by-state money transmitter model. The Dutch licence from DNB is the standard route for US fintechs.

What capital does the Dutch licence require?

A payment institution requires €20,000 to €125,000 initial capital depending on services; an e-money institution requires €350,000. Own-funds requirements scale with activity.

Can the same base carry a crypto product?

Yes — MiCA authorisation through the Dutch AFM passports across the EU the same way, and many groups hold the payments and crypto authorisations in parallel Dutch entities.

What does Holdwise do in the process?

Holdwise builds the Dutch entity and group structure — ownership chain, governance documentation, substance — prepared for the supervisory file; the licence application runs with specialised regulatory counsel, coordinated in writing.