Best Payment and Crypto Licensing Consultants in 2026: How to Choose

What a licensing consultant does

A licensing consultant takes a payment, e-money, crypto, trading or gaming business from its business model to an approved licence. The work covers choosing the right licence and country, writing the application pack, preparing the people who will hold the approved roles, answering the regulator's questions and getting the firm ready to trade on the day the licence is granted.

The strongest firms go further than the application. They arrange the safeguarding and operating bank accounts, the key people such as the MLRO and compliance officer, and the technology and card programmes the business launches on. Without those, a licence is a certificate on the wall. Our licence guides set out what each regulator expects, country by country.

Licensing consultant, law firm or accounting firm

Three kinds of adviser take on licence applications, and each suits a different stage.

Most payment, e-money and crypto firms use a licensing consultancy for the application and bring in a law firm for specific legal opinions. For a business still deciding where to apply, our global crypto licence guide and the country guides compare capital, fees and timing side by side.

Seven tests for choosing a licensing consultant

1. Licences obtained, with names. Ask for the licences the firm has obtained in the last three years, the regulator and the client. Firms with a real record can name clients or show them on the regulator's register.
2. The countries you need. A firm strong in the UK may have never filed in Lithuania, Singapore or with a US state regulator. Check the specific regulator, not the region.
3. Who writes and who answers. The person who drafts the application should be the person who answers the regulator's questions. Ask for their name.
4. Banking arranged, not referred. Ask which banks and e-money institutions the firm has opened safeguarding accounts with this year. See our page on banking for regulated firms.
5. Key people. Most applications stall on the MLRO or compliance officer. A good consultant can assemble your local team, not just tell you that you need one.
6. A written fixed fee. The fee, what it includes and what costs extra should be in writing before you sign.
7. After approval. Regulators expect the firm to run its compliance from day one. Ask what support continues after the licence is granted.

What the regulator looks at, whoever writes the application

A consultant does not change what the regulator assesses. Every major regulator, from the FCA and the Bank of Lithuania to FinCEN, FINTRAC and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, looks at the same five things:

• The people. Whether the chief executive, directors and compliance officer have run this type of business before.
• The business plan. Whether the firm makes money, when it breaks even and how it is funded.
• Financial resources. Whether the firm can hold its capital and pay its way in a bad year.
• Customer money. How every payment flows, where customer funds are held and how they are protected.
• Controls. Anti-money laundering, operational and security risk, and a tested plan to recover from disruption.

A good consultant tells you early which of these is weak, before you pay the regulator's fee. The right question to ask any firm is how it would strengthen your weakest one.

Licensing consultants worth comparing in 2026

No single firm leads in every licence and every country. The firms below are those that appear most often for payment, e-money and crypto licensing work, with what each is best known for according to its own published material.

Choose on the licence and country you need. A US state licensing programme, a MiCA authorisation and a UK e-money licence are different pieces of work, and the right firm for one is not always the right firm for another.

What licensing consultants charge in 2026

Few firms publish their fees. The figures below are the adviser fees that firms themselves published in 2026, for preparing and submitting the application. They exclude the regulator's own fees and the capital the business must hold.

The lower figures usually cover drafting only, with hours capped. The higher figures include the business plan, financial model, policies and the work with the regulator through to a decision. Compare what is included, not only the headline number. Our guide to the full cost of a UK licence sets out the regulator fees and capital alongside. We confirm a fixed fee in writing with our proposal, the same day you enquire.

How long the work takes

Timelines depend on how ready the business is. With the people, funding and banking in place, an application pack is usually ready for submission within six to ten weeks. Regulators then take their own time: the FCA aims to decide a complete payment or e-money application within three months, and many European, US state and Asian regulators take several months more. Ask any consultant for its realistic timeline from instruction to submission, and for the regulator's published timeline from submission to decision, separately.

Questions to ask before you sign

• Which licences of this type have you obtained in the last three years, for whom and with which regulator?
• Who will write our application and who will answer the regulator's questions?
• Which banks have you opened safeguarding or operating accounts with this year?
• How will you assemble our MLRO and compliance team if we do not have them?
• What is your fixed fee, what does it include and what will we pay on top?
• What is your realistic timeline from instruction to submission, and from submission to decision?
• What happens after the licence is granted?

If a firm cannot answer these in writing, keep looking. For UK payment and e-money applications, our free application gap checker shows how ready your own pack is before you speak to anyone.

How Buckingham Capital Consulting works

Buckingham Capital Consulting has obtained more than 250 licences in over 60 countries since 2013, including FCA e-money authorisations for Dzing Finance and Hryze, an FCA payment institution licence for Oval and a Central Bank of Ireland e-money licence for Own Solutions. One in-house team runs the whole programme: the licence, the key people, the banking and the technology, from the first call to the day you go live.

We reply within one to three business hours and send a written proposal on the licence, the cost and the timing the same day. Every licence guide on our site is reviewed by our founder, Harry Khan. See how we work.

Frequently asked questions

References

1. FCA: Payments and e-money firm applicants
2. FCA: Electronic money institution applicants
3. FCA Financial Services Register
4. ESMA: Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and the interim MiCA register
5. FinCEN: Money Services Business registration
6. FINTRAC: Money services businesses
7. MAS: How to apply for a payment service provider licence

Speak to an expert: WhatsApp +44 7563 115980, Telegram @buckinghamcapital or [email protected].

This article is general information, not legal advice. Requirements change, and the regulator’s own publications take precedence.