Finance Monthly April 2019 Edition

For an insight into the online payments market, Finance Monthly speaks with Artem Tymoshenko - a FinTech expert specialising in payment systems, processing systems, e-money, risk management, network & system security, digital self-service and e-billing. With over twelve years of experience in the industry, he is currently the CEO of Maxpay and Founder of Genome. AQ & How big is the online payments market in Malta and how is it developing? The online payments market in Malta is almost exclusively export-oriented. With a population of less than half a million people (that’s about 0.1% of the EU) and a landmass that’s about 0.1% of the area of the United Kingdom, the three islands are mostly a platform for international business servicing the European Economic Area. Because ARTEM TYMOSHENKO CEO of Maxpay PAYMENTS Q Malta is an EU member state with a compliant regulatory framework, as well as a country that is part of the Schengen visa-free economic area, it has over the years become a hub for financial services companies, with payment gateways, card issuers, e-wallets and online foreign exchange traders located here, but serving Europe and the world. With a banking sector consistently ranking amongst the top 10 of the world’s most reliable banking sectors (according to World Economic Forum rankings), the regulatory framework in Malta is very favourable for establishing and growing financial services firms and opening multinational branches. What are the challenges associated with operating cross-border in this sector? How do you overcome these alongside your clients? When it comes to cross-border payments, the two key difficulties that are a persistent barrier for businesses of all sizes in every industry are speed and cost, according to a report by the Bank for International Settlements. Payments sent from practically any country to another are often more expensive, slower, and less transparent when compared to domestic payments. The reasons for this are that cross-border payments are more complex, considered to involve more risk and fall under more rules and regulations as opposed to payments made within one country. Small and large companies experience different problems with cross-border payments, with large corporations that make high-value international wire transfers experiencing problems with the lack of transparency, including transparency of FX rates, and smaller businesses working with smaller payments that face high transaction costs. Q 42 www.finance-monthly.com ASK THE EXPERT - PAYMENTS