EClear receives BaFin license

The Berlin-based fintech has received the license of a payment service provider provider. EClear now wants to process payment transactions for online merchants across Europe.

EClear has received a license to provide payment services from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). The license is valid throughout Europe. "As a payment institution, we can now offer our customers additional services to enable the smooth cross-border growth of our customers," says Roman Maria Koidl, founder and CEO of eClear.

Thanks to its BaFin license, the fintech can process Europe-wide payment transactions for online retailers and pay VAT independently. The role of "tax payment acquirer" is new. The start-up takes over the collection of funds from end consumers and pays the VAT directly to the relevant tax authorities abroad. EClear is liable for the accuracy of the tax calculation and the amounts owed to the tax authorities. E-commerce retailers do not have to register for tax themselves. "This makes eClear the first payment institution in Europe to calculate, collect and pay transaction taxes fully automatically, i.e. end-to-end, for merchants," says Anne-Katrin Gewohn, CEO.

EClear was founded in 2016. Last year, the company's own "ClearVAT" was tested on individual customers. More than 8,000 retailers are already connected to the system. The fintech has six branches, and this year the start-up opened an office in Shenzhen, China. An office in Reykjavik in Iceland is to follow.