This confirmation was received following an assessment by the National Bank of Moldova of RunPay’s compliance with regulatory requirements governing the provision of account information and payment initiation services.
Under Open Banking, service providers must meet certain technical and security standards before they can access customer account data held by other financial institutions, typically with the customer’s explicit consent.
The authorization granted to RunPay by the National Bank of Moldova confirms that the company has met these requirements, allowing it to position itself as a licensed provider within Moldova’s emerging Open Banking regulatory framework. Furthermore, this move reflects a broader trend in European markets, where national regulators are gradually opening up banking infrastructure to licensed third-party service providers to support account aggregation and payment initiation services.
Planned Features
According to the company, the authorization will enable the introduction of new features in the upcoming update to the RunPay app. The planned Open Banking features are expected to allow users to link accounts at other banks, view the balances of all connected accounts in a single app, and transfer funds to their RunPay account faster than through traditional transfer methods.
A specific launch date for these features has not yet been announced, although RunPay has stated that the update will be released on schedule.
Market Implications
Obtaining this authorization marks a step forward in the development of Moldova’s digital financial services sector, where the adoption of Open Banking has been more limited than in EU member states with established regulatory frameworks, such as the revised EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2). As the first company to receive this special authorization from the National Bank of Moldova, RunPay is well-positioned to offer account aggregation and related services ahead of other domestic providers, potentially setting the benchmark for the implementation of Open Banking services in the local market.
This development is also significant in the broader regional context, as Moldova continues to align aspects of its financial regulation with EU standards as part of its EU accession process. Approvals for the implementation of Open Banking of this kind are typically viewed as part of the infrastructure necessary to ensure compatibility between domestic and international payment systems.
RunPay stated that the new functionality will be part of the further development of its digital ecosystem, without providing additional details on the subsequent stages of implementation.
About RunPay
RunPay (legal name Paymaster SRL) is a national payment system operating in Moldova under NBM License No. 000577 dated September 11, 2014 (issuance of electronic money and all types of payment services).
Paymaster was founded in 2013. It has 67 employees. Its revenue in 2024 was 59.99 million lei. Its profit was 660,880 lei.
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