An application for authorisation is defined as an application that has to be submitted to an institution (e.g. the BaFin) in order to be permitted to execute certain activities (e.g. banking businesses, payment services, or e-money businesses).
According to Section 32 of the German Banking Act (KWG) and Sections 10 and 11 of the German Payment Services Supervision Act (ZAG), there are many applications for authorisation in the bank and payment sectors. These applications often consist of several hundred pages, which is why the preparation for them is very elaborate and complex.