Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1013924
OPINION 26 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 AUGUST 2018 Malta from a different perspective James Grech is an aspiring Labour MEP candidate Evarist Bartolo Evarist Bartolo is minister for education and employment DURING a visit in Rome years ago, a B&B owner had said that she never visited the Colos- seum. This is despite the fact that she lived a few blocks away for 50 years. It's strange, isn't it? Millions of tourists every year come from every corner of the world to visit the Colosseum, and people just around the block don't even bother. But it isn't really. As Maltese, we have beautiful architecture and splendid churches everywhere you look yet every single day we pass them by, through the tour- ists with the cameras, with very little notice. When you live with something you tend to under-appreciate it. It's a common thing across the world. This is why I think we don't value enough the beauty of this country. We take things for granted, and in fairness so do many people. I remember an interview by Paul Chandler – an Englishman who was kidnapped for ransom in Somalia for a har- rowing 400 days – saying how you only realise the things you take for granted once they're no longer there, including the free- doms and human dignity that western civilisations provide. I think it's time we stood up for this and be proud of our country. Of course, we should have the ability to self-reflect and acknowledge where we lack – and there are many things that could be done better. But we should also acknowledge the beauty in our country that is often only pointed out by outside eyes. People coming over, including well-travelled ones, describe us in amazing terms yet we would struggle to do the same. I see this on a smaller scale in education. We sometimes underestimate the work that is being done on the ground and sell ourselves short. That is, until outsiders come over and tell us that, after all, we're doing a pretty good job. I recently had the pleasure to meet Dr Eileen N. Whelan Ariza who had kind words on the work being done on the integration strategies in education being used in our system. Studies also tell us that various educational indicators are always improving and are now on a set positive trend. This is not the work of one min- ister or one educator, it is years and years of cumulative work to reach this position, through different governments. There is a lot that needs to improve but we're getting there. Are we perfect? No, we're not. But I see the passion of educators and the drive that these have to bring about change, to make educa- tion more relevant, to make lessons engaging and to reach a wider net of young people. There's no grey area in bullying A lot has been written about bullying in schools. Bullying is a challenge in schools and some- thing that seems simple from the outside, but has very thorny roots on the inside. I know the pain that bullying brings, not only on the child but also on the parents. There's no grey area in bullying. The misconception that bullying somehow builds character is an antiquated idea that has no meaning. Bullying destroys, and it's very power- ful. This is especially true in the digital age, where it can take even more dangerous threads through anonymous cyber- bullying. It can make life hell for any young person. Over the past years we have invested a lot in this area to tackle bullying, with more people employed in this unit to reach more children. Bullying is not something that starts and finishes in schools. It derives from social and emotional is- sues and unless we face those challenges, we will get nowhere. We cannot allow a situation where we think, in some cases, it is okay. It never is. Any parent who had to endure the misery of seeing their child bullied knows this. Can Maltese banks survive Fintech disruptions? FINTECH companies, as the name literally implies, com- bine tech-savvy talent with financial know-how to create dynamic start-ups which offer actual banking related services to clients through their smartphones and elec- tronic devices. This enables clients to do without their traditional banks, their fees and complicated procedures. In fact, traditional banks are also exploring this op- portunity and are aiming at creating their own Fintechs or even acquiring established ones. Fintech start-ups are re- shaping the way individuals conduct their financial mat- ters all over the world. Revo- lut has literally revolution- ised the retail card payment industry. Since its formation, three years ago, this Fintech counts more than 1.5million users worldwide and regis- ters an average of 6000 new clients every day. The secret sauce? It simply allows users to make payments easi- ly among themselves through the use of its app even if they are clients of different banks. It provides clients with cards which can be used anywhere at virtually no cost and allows foreign exchange to be made at real-time market prices without any bank fee loading. One can easily see why such start-ups can challenge a traditional banking model. Fintechs usually operate in a less regulated environment compared to systematically important banks which are heavily scrutinised by regula- tors given their sensitivity to the broader economy. Besides, Fintechs use tradi- tional banking facilities such as deposit accounts to feed their own operations. Indeed transactions and payments usually flow to Fintechs di- rectly from a current account held by the client in a con- ventional bank. The costs of a Fintech company are a frac- tion of the operational costs required to run a banking institution with all its legacy grandeur. Fintech start- ups are usually financed by venture capital firms which provide financial support at incubation stage and reap the benefits once their product becomes profitable. The use of apps and smart- phones allows for superior customer experience. Cli- ents are allowed to run their banking needs from any- where, at any time. The sleek customer interface allows for a higher level of customer satisfaction which makes it harder for anyone to return to a traditional bank branch unless this is really required. Aided by a strong domestic economic boom, the Maltese banking industry seems not to be feeling the pinch in the same way other European banks are, but disruptions from Fintech start-ups are just a matter of time. Tech- nology allowed Fintechs to break the barriers to entry into the traditional banking industry and disruptors are making inroads fast. Up to a few years ago finan- cial services such as stock brokerage, the provision of investment advice and card payments, used to be services which were inherently associ- ated with traditional banks. Nowadays, robo-advisors, electronic platforms and oth- er Fintech ventures are taking up these segments away from banks, as the latter strive in finding the capital required to maintain these business units. Maltese banks can, however, make use of the strong domestic IT industry to help diversify their busi- ness model by taking sandbox initiatives intended to create their own Fintech companies whilst keeping them totally segregated from the banks' organisational, regulatory and IT infrastructure. This would allow Maltese Fintechs to be agile and efficient while their parent bank would leverage on local IT knowl- edge without putting further strains on legacy IT struc- tures held in-house. This idea could also diversify the concentration that the local software development indus- try presently has on iGaming, thus effectively reducing the systematic risk in the broader Maltese economy. By doing so, traditional Maltese banks would be able to face the challenges brought about by Fintech disruption through effec- tively making an ally out of a perceived foe. The outcome would be beneficial not just for the local banking indus- try but also in representing a quantum leap for the further development of the Maltese IT sector, both of which represent the pillars of our modern economy. The views expressed here are entirely the author's and not those of companies he is as- sociated with James Grech