Regulatory intelligence solution Vixio revealed over $40.7m (€36m) in fines were handed to European payment providers over the past year due to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) failures.
According to Vixio’s Anti-Money Laundering Outlook report, regulators are cracking down on AML failures across Europe following a rise in financial penalties being issued.
The report found in the last year, in Europe alone, there have been 30 enforcement actions from regulators fining payments and e-money firms for falling short in their adherence to AML/Counter Terrorist Financing (CFT) rules.
The report analyses AML requirements from key jurisdictions and efforts to mitigate criminal activity. It also examines how payments companies can fall foul to AML compliance pitfalls in a highly regulated market.
Of the fines forked out to payment firms last year, the most recent example saw Ratepay fined $28,260 (€25,000) by German regulator BaFin in March 2025 over suspected money laundering.
Prior to that, in February 2025, Estonia’s Money Laundering Data Bureau revoked B2BX Digital Exchange OÜ’s licence for failing to implement customer due diligence checks, as well as improper transaction monitoring and risk assessments.
Another example highlighted in Vixio’s report was the licence revocation of Foxpay in November 2024. The Bank of Lithuania revoked the licence after finding AML/CFT and governance failures, which included fund mismanagement and conflicts of interest.
John Gidla, Head of Payments Compliance, Vixio, explains, “Although AML compliance involves significant costs for payments firms – including investment in transaction monitoring systems, customer due diligence (CDD) processes and ongoing staff training – the consequences of failure can be significant.
“In addition to financial penalties, failing to prevent money laundering can severely damage a firm’s reputation, leading to loss of customers, partners and investor confidence. Maintaining a strong compliance framework is crucial for preserving trust and long-term business viability.”
A new approach to a rising problem
The introduction of the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA) is a European Union (EU) agency designed to correct and consistent AML rules and practices are followed.
AMLA seeks to implore more government agency cooperation and greater communication amongst financial intelligence units to assist one another on best practices for AML/CFT.
Within the report, Vixio outlines several measures for payment firms to tighten their AML/CFT procedures; key among them is to improve Know Your Customer processes and transaction monitoring.
Changing AML defences and regulation was the key topic of discussion when Payment Expert spoke to Piotr Lisak, AML Governance Officer & MLRO at Kindred, who also touched on the impact emerging technologies such as AI and blockchain are playing.
He said: “AI is also instrumental in more sophisticated activities, such as malware generation or other malicious software. This generally lowers the costs of fraudulent cyber operations and makes them more accessible for a common scammer.”
