Shopify Seeks Regulators’ OK to Become Money Transmitter

Shopify is reportedly seeking regulators’ permission to offer more financial and payment services to merchants.

The eCommerce giant has already landed money transmitter licenses in more than a dozen states to hold and move funds itself, and hopes to get them on a nationwide basis, The Information reported Thursday (April 30).

The report notes that this would grant Shopify — which as of this winter commanded more than 14% of U.S. eCommerce market share — greater control over how money moves on its platform.

It could also potentially give the company more revenue from the hundreds of billions in transactions made via its shops every year, the report said.

Shopify, according to government records cited by The Information, has told regulators it aims to serve as a money transmitter and a “provider of prepaid access.”

This would let it transmit money for other parties and store funds on their behalf, the report said, likening it to the way consumers can leave money in accounts like Venmo for later use.

This will mean landing nationwide money transmitter licenses, The Information added. The company has licenses in 18 states and Puerto Rico so far, with the rest under review. This includes larger states with stricter regulations, such as New York and California.

“Shopify has provided financial products and payment services for years,” a Shopify spokesperson told The Information.

“Obtaining licenses will allow us to keep building on our existing tools that help merchants run their business. Our payment partnerships are foundational to that work, and millions of merchants rely on the infrastructure we’ve built together.”

In other Shopify news, the company earlier this month said it would make some of its B2B features available to merchants on all of its plans. These include company profiles for wholesale buyers, up to three custom catalogs with tailored pricing, volume discounts and quantity rules.

PYMNTS has also written about the company’s growing lending business to merchants, part of a broader trend of platforms providing working capital to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The company’s total loans and merchant cash advances stood at $1.8 billion at the end of 2025, compared with $1.2 billion one year earlier.

“As commerce volumes fluctuate and operating expenses remain elevated, platforms that process payments and host storefronts are extending financing directly within their networks,” PYMNTS wrote.

Research from PYMNTS Intelligence highlights the appeal of quicker access to capital, particularly for smaller firms, with half of SMBs saying they depend on day-to-day sales or existing bank balances to remain in business.