Ireland · Payments & e-money
Optal Financial Europe Limited
Trading asWEX
Optal Financial Europe Limited is a private limited company registered in Ireland under company number 612228, based in Dublin 4. The Central Bank of Ireland authorised it as an electronic money institution on 8 March 2019, under reference C176000. It trades as Optal and WEX and belongs to the WEX group, whose ultimate parent is WEX Inc. of the United States. It provides business-to-business payments using virtual Mastercard account numbers, and WEX completed its acquisition of Optal in December 2020.
Licences and registrations
Held by Optal Financial Europe Limited (LEI 254900HL5541TJQUXK22). 1 entry on 1 of the 22 tracked registers, retrieved 25 September 2026.
| Register | Licence | Number | Jurisdiction | Status | Registered | Ends | Activities | Register entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBA PSD2 RegisterCentral Bank of Ireland | Electronic money institutionE-Money / Stored Value Institution | C176000 | Ireland | Active | 2019-03-08 | — |
|
Search the register ↗ |
Trading names on the register: WEX (EBA-PSD2)
- Each licence applies in the country of the regulator that granted it.
- Registers are tracked in 37 countries. Licences granted elsewhere are not recorded here.
Swift network
Swift’s ISO 9362 BIC directory
Holds no BIC in Swift’s directory.
Its LEI is not mapped to a BIC in the Swift and GLEIF BIC-to-LEI relationship file.
Overview
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
Customers
Not published
Employees
Not published
Ownership
Group subsidiary
Firm type
FX and business payments
Trades as WEX
- Ownership
- The firm belongs to the WEX group, and its LEI record names WEX Inc., listed on the New York Stock Exchange, as the ultimate parent.
- Ultimate owner
- WEX Inc., United States
- Head office
- 3rd Floor, Fleming Court, Fleming's Place, D04 N4X9 Dublin 4, Ireland
- Company register
- CRO 612228
Online
- Websites & references
- wexinc.com ↗
developer.wexinc.com ↗ WEX group developer and payments API portal - Official social accounts
- LinkedIn ↗ · X ↗ · Facebook ↗ · Instagram ↗ · YouTube ↗
Sources · 11 pages consulted
- registers.centralbank.ie/FirmRegisterDataPage.aspx?firmReferenceNumber=C176000®ister=63
- wexinc.com/regulatory-information/wex-group-regulated-entities/
- wexinc.com/regulatory-information/
- wexinc.com/industries/travel/
- centralbank.ie/news/article/optal-financial-europe-(clone)---central-bank-of-ireland-issues-warning-on-u
- centralbank.ie/news/article/imperial-trust-loans---central-bank-of-ireland-issues-warning-on-unauthorise
- fsma.be/en/optal-financial-europe-clone
- ir.wexinc.com/news/news-details/2020/WEX-Completes-Acquisition-of-eNett-and-Optal/default.aspx
- irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/fast-growing-fintech-optal-opens-dublin-base-for-eu-business-
- wexinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Wex-NewCo-MS-statement-2026.pdf
- lei.bloomberg.com/leis/view/254900HL5541TJQUXK22
Authorisation
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Operates under
- Its own licences
The Central Bank of Ireland authorised the firm as an electronic money institution under Regulation 9 of the European Communities (Electronic Money) Regulations 2011. Its register entry lists three payment services: executing payment transactions on a credit line, issuing and acquiring payment transactions, and money remittance. The authorisation is passported by freedom of services to 29 EEA states.
| Authority | Licence or registration | Number | Held | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Bank of Ireland Ireland | Electronic Money Institution authorised pursuant to Regulation 9 of the European Communities (Electronic Money) Regulations 2011 | C176000 | In its own name | Active | registers.centralbank.ie ↗ |
Licences and registrations the research found, at home and abroad, as the firm and its regulators publish them. The Licences and registrations card shows the entries on the registers the directory tracks.
Partners and safeguarding
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Safeguarding
- Not disclosedThe firm does not publish its safeguarding arrangements.
- Payment schemes and card networks
- Mastercard Access not stated irishtimes.com ↗
Banks and regulated firms the firm says hold its customers’ money, issue its cards, sponsor its accounts or settle its payments, as it discloses them in its terms and notices.
Products and markets
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
The firm issues virtual Mastercard account numbers that businesses use to pay suppliers. The WEX group sells this service mainly to online travel agencies and other travel intermediaries.
The Central Bank of Ireland register shows the firm providing services from Ireland into 29 other EEA states on a freedom-of-services basis.
- Sells to
- Enterprises · Platforms and marketplaces
- Serves customers in 30 countries
- Ireland · Austria · Belgium · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czechia · Denmark · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Italy · Latvia · Liechtenstein · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Netherlands · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden
Recent events
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
The research found no fines, investigations, security incidents, licence changes or corporate events from the last three years.
Compliance-relevant events of the last three years, newest first: fines and enforcement, investigations, security incidents, licence changes, funding rounds, acquisitions and leadership changes. Each links to its source.
Regulator warnings
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
-
Impersonation Central Bank of Ireland, Ireland
The Central Bank of Ireland warned about an unauthorised clone firm posing as Optal Financial Europe Limited. It stated there was no connection between the clone and the authorised firm.
centralbank.ie ↗ -
Impersonation Central Bank of Ireland, Ireland
The Central Bank of Ireland warned that an unauthorised lender, Imperial Trust Loans, was passing itself off as Optal Financial Europe Limited. It stated there was no connection between the two.
centralbank.ie ↗ -
Impersonation Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), Belgium
The Belgian FSMA published a warning about a clone firm using the name Optal Financial Europe.
fsma.be ↗
Entries on regulators’ consumer-warning lists that name the firm or its brand. An impersonation warning is about fraudsters posing as the firm, not about the firm itself.
Identifiers
- Licence no. · EBA-PSD2
- C176000
- BIC
- Holds no BIC in Swift’s directory
- How the LEI was matched
- Matched by Elucidate to GLEIF on name, country and address
- Elucidate firm ID
- 2ea38c998d7f
Profile
- Type
- Payments & e-moneyPayment institutions, e-money and stored-value issuers, and account-information providers. Licensed under payment-services law (e.g. PSD2 in the EU and UK, the Payment Services Act in Singapore). Taken from the licences on the tracked registers.
- Regulation
- Prudential licenceAuthorised with capital, safeguarding and conduct requirements, e.g. an authorised payment or e-money institution in the EU or UK, a major payment institution in Singapore, or a MiCA crypto-asset service provider.
- Main licence class
- E-Money / Stored Value Institution
- Activities
- Money remittance
- Payment services
- Card acquiring
- E-money / stored value
- Licensed in
- Ireland · Europe & Central Asia
- First registered
- 2019-03-08
Types come from Swift’s BIC classification, the licences on the 22 tracked registers, and the ECB and FSB bank lists. Most banks outside the euro area appear as financial institutions, because their supervisors’ registers are not tracked yet.
Ownership and group
GLEIF relationship records
- Ultimate parent
- Wex Inc. · United StatesT9M5IGROL1TL1G5OV478 ↗
The Wex Inc. group has 2 institutions in the directory, in 2 countries: none holds a BIC.
Including Optal Financial Limited.
See the Wex Inc. group →Group membership follows the accounting-consolidation relationships reported to GLEIF. It does not show ownership shares or control.
Addresses
- Address on the register
- 3rd Floor Fleming Court, Flemings Place, Dublin 4, D04 N4X9
- Country
- Ireland
ISO 20022 identification
As an agent in a Swift cross-border payment message (CBPR+)
This institution holds no BIC. A CBPR+ message identifies it by name and postal address, and may add its LEI or a clearing code.
- Identified by
- Name and postal address, with its LEI
- Postal address
- Hybrid: town, postcode and country in their own elements, the rest in two address lines
<FinInstnId>
<LEI>254900HL5541TJQUXK22</LEI>
<Nm>Optal Financial Europe Limited</Nm>
<PstlAdr>
<PstCd>D04 N4X9</PstCd>
<TwnNm>Dublin 4</TwnNm>
<Ctry>IE</Ctry>
<AdrLine>3rd Floor Fleming Court</AdrLine>
<AdrLine>Flemings Place</AdrLine>
</PstlAdr>
</FinInstnId>CBPR+ identifies the instructing and instructed agents by BIC only. An institution without a BIC can be the debtor, creditor or an intermediary agent.
The values are as published by the register. Check them against your own records before use.
Sources & method
Register entries come from the public registers of financial regulators, standardised into one taxonomy. LEIs are matched through GLEIF, and a BIC is linked only through a shared LEI.
An institution missing from these registers is not necessarily unregulated.
Register entries are not matched against the OFAC or EU sanctions lists. Where the legal entity also holds a BIC, the matches for that BIC are on its page. Always screen against the official lists.
An institution is one entry in the directory: a BIC8 in Swift’s directory, or a firm on a tracked register that holds no BIC. Licences held by an institution with a BIC are shown on its page.
Read the methodology →Register for this page
- EBA PSD2 Register—European Banking Authority (EBA) · source ↗ as at 25 September 2026
- Ownership and group—GLEIF Level 2 relationship records (accounting consolidation), matched by LEI.
- Overview, authorisation, partners, products, leadership and events—researched per institution by an AI model with web search, from the firm's own website, terms and filings, regulators' registers and notices, company registers and news. Licences, partners, figures, people and events link to their source, and each card shows the research date. AI research can be wrong or out of date, so check key facts at the source.
Assess the financial crime risk behind a licence
A licence records what an institution is authorised to do; it does not assess it. The Elucidate FinCrime Index (EFI) is an independent score of the financial crime risk of banks and payment institutions.
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