Fire Business Account
Irish-founded, Central-Bank-of-Ireland-regulated business payments account with Irish IBANs, UK Faster Payments, and a payments API for Irish SMEs
EUR pricing guaranteed
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Irish Compliance Assessment
Revenue Integration
No native Revenue Online Service (ROS) connection. Tax submissions must be exported and filed manually, or handled via a paired Irish accounting tool.
PAYE Modernisation
Not a payroll product. Real-time PAYE reporting required since 2019 is out of scope.
Irish Bank Feeds
Dual-currency by default: euro account with an Irish (IE) IBAN issued by Fire Financial Services Limited (Fire-EU), regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as a Payment Institution, plus a sterling account with UK sort code and account number issued by Fire-UK (FCA-authorised EMI). Supports SEPA Credit Transfer and SEPA Direct Debit on euro accounts. Supports UK Faster Payments and Bacs on sterling accounts. SWIFT outbound supported with FX conversion. Statement export available in OFX and CSV formats compatible with Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent, and Surf Accounts. Fire publishes a Payments API plus Open Banking PISP and AISP APIs for programmatic payouts, batched supplier runs, and webhook-driven reconciliation - usable directly or via partner middleware. Direct native bank feeds into the main Irish accounting platforms are not currently published as first-party Fire integrations; reconciliation typically runs via OFX or CSV statement export, the Fire API, or partner connectors.
SEPA / Irish IBAN
SEPA Direct Debit and Irish IBAN supported natively. SEPA XML export available.
VAT Handling
Irish VAT rates are not handled natively. Manual workarounds required.
Irish Support
Customer support available during Irish business hours. Email, phone, or chat as published by the vendor.
Overview
Fire Business Account, operated by Fire Financial Services Limited and trading as Fire.com, is an Irish-founded payments platform built specifically for businesses that pay, get paid, and reconcile money across Ireland and the UK. Fire was founded in 2010 by Colm Lyon, the Irish fintech entrepreneur best known for building Realex Payments (acquired by Global Payments for EUR 115m in 2015). Fire is headquartered at Dogpatch Labs, The CHQ Building, Custom House Quay, Dublin 1, and is registered with the Companies Registration Office under CRO number 464819. The Irish entity, Fire Financial Services Limited (Fire-EU), is regulated as a Payment Institution by the Central Bank of Ireland under PSD2, reference C58301, and was the first Irish firm authorised as a Payment Initiation Service Provider for open banking in 2019. A separate UK entity, Fire-UK, is authorised as an Electronic Money Institution by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, reference 900983, which lets Irish businesses operate Irish (IE) IBAN euro accounts and GBP accounts with UK sort code and account number under one login. Fire issues physical and virtual Mastercard debit cards, supports SEPA Credit Transfer and SEPA Direct Debit on the euro side, and supports Faster Payments and Bacs on the sterling side. Crucially for Irish SMEs that build software or run programmatic payouts, Fire publishes the Fire Payments API, which lets developers initiate batched payments, set up payment requests, and reconcile inbound transactions without screen-scraping an online banking interface. Fire's natural fit is Irish SMEs that want a domestically regulated, Irish-founded provider with strong compliance positioning, full Irish IBAN issuance from the Irish entity, real UK Faster Payments capability, and a documented API for finance automation. Fire is not the right pick for high-balance cash businesses needing the Irish Deposit Guarantee Scheme (Fire is a Payment Institution, not a licensed bank, so customer funds are safeguarded rather than insured), nor for businesses whose primary need is consumer-style spending features, lending facilities, or branch-based service.
Compliance reference
Compliance vocabulary for Fire Business Account
Irish terms that shape how this software is bought, configured, and audited.
- Central Bank of Ireland (CBI)
Ireland's financial regulator and gatekeeper for banks, payment firms, e-money issuers, MiFID investment firms and insurance providers. Maintains the public CBI register and operates the Fitness and Probity regime for senior staff at regulated firms.
- Fintech
Software and platforms that deliver financial services - banking, payments, lending, insurance, wealth - through technology rather than branch-based incumbents. In Ireland, fintech firms are regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
- Neobank
A digital-first, app-led account provider with no physical branches. Some hold full credit-institution licences; many operate as Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs) or under EU passporting rather than Irish bank authorisation.
- Payment Institution (PI)
A Central Bank of Ireland authorisation that permits a firm to provide one or more payment services under PSD2 - account services, payment execution, card acquiring, money remittance, AISP, PISP - without being an EMI or credit institution.
- PSD2 (Payment Services Directive 2)
The EU directive governing payment services and payment service providers across the EEA. Transposed into Irish law by SI 6/2018 (European Union (Payment Services) Regulations 2018). Created the open banking and Strong Customer Authentication regimes.
Vendors.ie Verdict
Fire Business Account is the strongest fit for Irish SMEs that want a domestically regulated, Irish-founded provider and value Irish IBAN issuance, Irish-based support, and a real payments API over consumer-style polish. The case is unusually clear for tech-enabled SMEs that pay suppliers programmatically, run UK invoicing alongside Irish operations, or need predictable per-transaction pricing for finance automation - the Fire Payments API and the dual EUR/GBP setup do real work here. Skip Fire if you need a free Basic plan (Revolut Business and N26 Business beat it on entry pricing), if you need the Irish Deposit Guarantee Scheme on large balances (Fire is a Payment Institution, not a licensed bank, so a primary AIB or Bank of Ireland relationship still belongs in the stack), or if your accounting workflow depends on a native bank feed into Xero or Sage today. For most Irish SMEs the right pattern in 2026 is Fire as the operational and API layer, paired with a traditional Irish bank for credit and cash.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Irish-founded and Dublin-headquartered, with a Central Bank of Ireland Payment Institution authorisation since 2010
- Issues genuine Irish (IE) IBANs from the Irish entity, not Belgian or German IBANs
- Dual euro and sterling accounts under one login, with UK Faster Payments and Bacs on the GBP side
- First Irish firm authorised as a Payment Initiation Service Provider for open banking in 2019
- Documented Fire Payments API plus Open Banking PISP and AISP APIs for programmatic payouts and reconciliation
- Predictable transaction pricing - EUR 0.29 per SEPA or domestic transfer with no per-volume tiers
- Irish-based customer support during Irish business hours
- Founder Colm Lyon is a known quantity in Irish fintech - prior exit was Realex Payments to Global Payments for EUR 115m in 2015
Cons
- EUR 10 monthly fee with no free Basic tier - Revolut Business and N26 Business both offer free entry plans
- Regulated as a Payment Institution, not a licensed bank, so balances are safeguarded rather than covered by the Irish Deposit Guarantee Scheme
- No native first-party bank feeds into Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, BrightBooks, FreeAgent, or Surf Accounts at the time of review - reconciliation runs via OFX/CSV, the API, or partner middleware
- Smaller brand footprint than Revolut or N26 at the consumer recognition level, which can matter when onboarding non-finance staff
- Card programme is functional rather than feature-rich - no significant cashback, rewards, or virtual-card-per-vendor controls
- No overdrafts, term lending, merchant acquiring, cash deposits, or cheques - cash-heavy or credit-dependent businesses still need a primary Irish bank alongside Fire
Best For
Company Size
Sectors
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Verification Notes
Regulatory status confirmed via fire.com/about/regulatory-status/ on 1 May 2026. Fire Financial Services Limited (CRO 464819) is regulated as a Payment Institution by the Central Bank of Ireland under PSD2, Reference No. C58301, with registered office at Dogpatch Labs, The CHQ Building, Custom House Quay, Dublin 1. Fire was the first Irish firm authorised as a Payment Initiation Service Provider in 2019, per Irish Times reporting. The UK entity Fire Financial Services Limited (Fire-UK) is authorised as an Electronic Money Institution by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, Reference No. 900983. The Irish entity holds Payment Institution authorisation, not Electronic Money Institution authorisation - a meaningful distinction for Irish buyers comparing Fire to Wise (Belgian EMI) or Revolut (Lithuanian licensed bank). Pricing as confirmed via fire.com/fees-and-charges on 1 May 2026: setup fee EUR 0, monthly fee EUR 10, SEPA and domestic bank transfers EUR 0.29 per transaction, SWIFT EUR 12 plus 0.75% FX margin where applicable, FX margin 0.75% with EUR 1.25 minimum, first debit card free with subsequent cards EUR 10 each, card transactions EUR 0.29 per Chip and PIN/contactless/online transaction, ATM withdrawals EUR 2.50 plus Irish Government Stamp Duty of 12c per withdrawal capped at EUR 5 per year, 2% international card fee. SEPA Credit Transfer and SEPA Direct Debit confirmed on the Irish euro account. UK Faster Payments and Bacs confirmed on the sterling account. Fire Payments API and Open Banking PISP/AISP APIs publicly documented. Direct native bank feeds into Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, BrightBooks, FreeAgent, and Surf Accounts are not currently published as first-party Fire integrations - integrations rely on OFX/CSV statement export, the Fire API, or partner middleware. Fire is a Payment Institution, not a licensed bank, so customer funds are safeguarded under Payment Services Regulations rather than covered by the Irish Deposit Guarantee Scheme. No public affiliate or referral programme identified at the time of review. Profile drafted as unverified pending vendor sign-off and one further pricing cron pass.
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