United Kingdom · Payments & e-money
Planet Merchant Services Limited
Trading asPlanet
Planet Merchant Services Limited is a private limited company registered in England with its office in London. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) authorises it as a payment institution under reference 815854. It belongs to the Planet group, whose ultimate parent is AI Silk (Luxembourg) Topco S.à r.l. Planet names Advent International and Eurazeo as its majority owners. According to its accounts, the firm earns revenue from currency conversion, acquiring, processing and payment gateway services for banks, acquirers, merchants and tourists. In January 2021 its EU customer book moved to Planet Merchant Services SAS, the group's French payment institution.
Licences and registrations
Held by Planet Merchant Services Limited (LEI 98450061377C1903E097). 1 entry on 1 of the 22 tracked registers, retrieved 25 September 2026.
| Register | Licence | Number | Jurisdiction | Status | Registered | Ends | Activities | Register entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FCA Financial Services Register - Payment Institutions & RAISPsFCA | Authorised Payment InstitutionPayment Institution | 815854 | United Kingdom | Active | 2018-09-25 | — |
|
Search the register ↗ |
Trading names on the register: Planet (FCA-PSD)
- 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
Franklin Ireland Bidco Limited
Firm type
Merchant acquiring and processing
Trades as Planet
- Ownership
- According to its 2025 accounts, the firm's immediate parent is Franklin Ireland Bidco Limited and its ultimate parent is AI Silk (Luxembourg) Topco S.à r.l. The Planet group describes Advent International and Eurazeo as its majority owners.
- Direct parent
- Franklin Ireland Bidco Limited, Ireland
- Ultimate owner
- AI Silk (Luxembourg) Topco S.à r.l., Luxembourg
- Head office
- First Floor, Ilona Rose House, Manette Street, W1D 4AL London, United Kingdom
- Company register
- Companies House 08791017
- Incorporated
- 26 Nov 2013
- Former name
- FINTRAX INTERNATIONAL PAYMENT SERVICES LIMITED
Online
- Websites & references
- weareplanet.com ↗
taxfree.weareplanet.com ↗ Tax-free shopping (VAT refund) portal for shoppers - Official social accounts
- LinkedIn ↗
Sources · 11 pages consulted
- register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=0010X00004EKuLVQA1
- find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08791017
- find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08791017/officers
- find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08791017/persons-with-significant-control
- find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08791017/filing-history
- find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08791017/filing-history/MzUzOTEwODM4M2FkaXF6a2N4/document?format=pdf&download=0
- weareplanet.com/legal/authorizations-licenses-and-registrations
- weareplanet.com/legal/legal-notice
- weareplanet.com/legal/products-terms-and-conditions
- weareplanet.com/news/planet-appoints-eric-heurtaux-ceo
- businesswire.com/news/home/20241107633591/en/Planet-appoints-Eric-Heurtaux-as-CEO
Authorisation
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Operates under
- Its own licences
The FCA authorises the firm as a payment institution (reference 815854) for issuing and acquiring payment instruments and for money remittance. EEA business moved in January 2021 to Planet Merchant Services SAS, which the French Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution authorises separately.
| Authority | Licence or registration | Number | Held | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Conduct Authority United Kingdom | Authorised Payment Institution | 815854 | In its own name | Active | register.fca.org.uk ↗ |
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
- Segregated safeguarding accountsAccording to its 2025 accounts, the firm holds restricted cash in segregated bank accounts on behalf of consumers and merchants.
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
According to its accounts, the firm offers multi-currency card processing, acquiring, processing and payment gateway services, and it processes VAT refunds for the group's tax-free shopping business.
The firm serves customers under its UK authorisation, and its 2025 accounts show most revenue from the United Kingdom, with the rest from Europe and other countries.
- Revenue
- GBP 53.5m
- Sells to
- Enterprises · Financial institutions · Small businesses · Consumers
- Serves customers in
- United Kingdom
Leadership
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
- Executive
- Colin Dominic Close Director
- Executive
- David Lincoln Herron Director
- Executive
- Linda Jane Zarza Hand Director
- Executive
- Cerian Natasha Tahany Company Secretary
Recent events
Researched 29 Sep 2026 · Sources
-
Leadership
Eric Heurtaux, the Planet group's chief executive, stepped down as a director of the firm on 8 August 2026.
find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk ↗ -
Other
The firm moved its registered office to First Floor, Ilona Rose House, Manette Street, London, on 17 July 2026.
find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk ↗ -
Leadership
The Planet group announced Eric Heurtaux as its chief executive from 1 January 2025, succeeding Brent Warrington.
weareplanet.com ↗ -
Leadership
Colin Close, David Herron and Linda Zarza Hand became directors, and Peter Flanagan and Gilbert El Soueidy stepped down.
find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk ↗ -
Other
AI Silk Midco Limited, a parent company, refinanced group debt with a EUR 910 million term loan and a EUR 143 million revolving facility.
find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk ↗
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.
Identifiers
- Licence no. · FCA-PSD
- 815854
- BIC
- Holds no BIC in Swift’s directory
- How the LEI was matched
- Matched by Elucidate on the UK company number the register gives
- Elucidate firm ID
- 116a3000b11a
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
- Payment Institution
- Activities
- Payment services
- Licensed in
- United Kingdom · Europe & Central Asia
- First registered
- 2018-09-25
- Website
- www.planetpayment.com ↗
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
GLEIF’s relationship records name no parent for this LEI, and no group page is published for it.
Addresses
- Address on the register
- Ilona Rose House, Manette Street, London, W1D 4AL
- Country
- United Kingdom
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 one address line
<FinInstnId>
<LEI>98450061377C1903E097</LEI>
<Nm>PLANET MERCHANT SERVICES LIMITED</Nm>
<PstlAdr>
<PstCd>W1D 4AL</PstCd>
<TwnNm>London</TwnNm>
<Ctry>GB</Ctry>
<AdrLine>Ilona Rose House, Manette Street</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
- FCA Financial Services Register - Payment Institutions & RAISPs—Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) · source ↗ as at 25 September 2026
- 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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