If your roadmap mixes iGaming tech, affiliate media, or payments ops that touch multiple markets, Costa Rica keeps showing up as a pragmatic place to stand up a lean company that partners can underwrite. You’re not buying a shortcut—you’re buying predictability: fast setup, sensible upkeep, and artifacts procurement reviewers actually accept.
Before anything else, read the current requirements and prep list here: register a company in Costa Rica.
Why Costa Rica works right now
Costa Rica has become a “less drama, more delivery” jurisdiction for global internet businesses that sell software/services into regulated ecosystems (iGaming, fintech, adtech) without immediately running regulated activities themselves. It’s familiar to counterparties, costs compare well with other options, and—crucially—there’s a well-trodden checklist for incorporation and maintenance. That makes it easier to get banked with EMIs/PSPs, contract with enterprise partners, and keep governance boring in the best way.
When it’s a fit (and when it isn’t)
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Good fit: iGaming tooling and managed services, affiliate and performance media, B2B software for risk/analytics, compliance ops, vendor management hubs, and payments back-office functions. You invoice globally, integrate with licensed operators, and avoid holding client funds.
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Not a fit: if you plan to provide regulated financial services, run an exchange/order book, or custody client assets on day one. In that case you’ll still incorporate—but you should plan toward a supervised license elsewhere (EU/MiCA, Dubai VARA, Malaysia VASP) and keep Costa Rica as the services/ops base.
The “procurement pack” mindset
Partners don’t buy promises; they buy evidence. A Costa Rica company clears reviews faster when you can send, in the first email:
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A short scope statement (what you do and don’t do).
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Corporate set (incorporation certificate, share register), org chart, named officers.
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Funds-flow diagram (customers → PSP/EMI → operating accounts) + who approves exceptions.
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Access-control exports for systems that move money/data, and monthly bookkeeping already running.
Keep it under ten pages total. If a reviewer can skim it in five minutes, you’ve done it right.
A two-week launch storyline (that actually happens)
Days 1–3 — Scope & appointments
Draft two paragraphs that define activities and non-activities. Incorporate, issue shares, appoint directors, and pass initial resolutions (banking/PSP applications, accounting provider, signatories).
Days 4–7 — Rails & hygiene
Open a primary and a fallback EMI/PSP; set reconciliation cadence; enable monthly bookkeeping from day one. Capture access controls for billing, PSP dashboards, and data stores. Store PDFs/screenshots in a “living” vendor file.
Days 8–14 — Evidence by default
Run a dry-run procurement pack: attach the corporate set, org chart, funds-flow, access-control exports, and a one-page incidents template (date, impact, action owner). If you can’t assemble it in an hour, simplify your stack or your story.
A different angle: iGaming affiliate & partner ops (a mini case study)
A mid-size iGaming affiliate network moved its commercial engine into Costa Rica to centralize contracts, payouts, and partner reporting. The entity sells software and media services only; no client asset custody, no payment services for third parties. Results:
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Banking: two PSP rails live in under two weeks because the funds-flow and scope were crystal clear.
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Procurement: operators accepted the vendor pack without custom questionnaires—access-control exports + reconciliation policy did the heavy lifting.
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Scale: monthly management accounts + quarterly board minutes (short, real decisions) satisfied internal and external reviews without legal theater.
The point isn’t that Costa Rica “unlocks” iGaming. It’s that a clean scope running through a familiar jurisdiction helps partners say yes faster.
Banking & payments: set expectations you can keep
Tier-1 banks still want track record and substance for internet-native businesses—don’t plan on a day-one big-bank relationship. The practical path in 2025 is EMIs/PSPs that underwrite digital businesses, plus a quiet plan to move up the ladder once volumes are stable and governance is boring. Your accelerators are predictable reconciliations, exceptions playbooks, refund/chargeback handling, and change logs for production systems.
Governance that passes the squint test
You don’t need a marble boardroom. You do need:
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Minutes with decisions (budgets, vendor approvals, signatories) and owners assigned.
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Registers that change when roles do (directors, signatories, access).
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Vendor oversight files (contract, SLA, security note, and exit plan) for each critical provider—PSP/EMI, cloud, analytics, and accounting.
Screenshots beat essays. Consistency beats flourish.
Common mistakes (and the simple fixes)
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Template soup. Policies copied from the internet that don’t match your stack. Fix: write three pages that map to your actual tools and add screenshots.
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Single-rail payments. One PSP works—until it doesn’t. Fix: open a fallback before you need it.
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Scope creep. “We might also…” spooks reviewers. Fix: publish a boundaries paragraph and stick to it.
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Evidence late. Gathering logs after a request slows you down. Fix: capture access-control exports and reconciliations monthly by default.
Where this goes next
Costa Rica can be your operational base while you add supervised permissions where revenue demands it. If institutional partners sit in MENA/EU, you may later add Dubai VARA or an EU/MiCA route; if APAC is core, Malaysia’s VASP framework is a practical on-ramp. Sequencing beats absolutism: stand up clean ops first, then layer the badge that wins your next tier of partners.
About the advisor behind this guidance
LegalBison is an international advisory firm specialising in company formation and crypto licensing. Trusted by hundreds of entrepreneurs worldwide, the firm provides full-cycle legal and compliance support to businesses seeking to launch and scale across global markets.
Final notes
This article is informational and not legal, tax, or investment advice. Rulebooks change—confirm against current supervisory materials before acting. If Costa Rica looks right, start with the artifacts partners actually ask for, then let incorporation confirm discipline you already run.