Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1351936
2 NEWS 18.3.2021 FINANCEMALTA held a virtual meet- ing with its members to provide them with an overview of its plans for 2021 and explain ways how they can take maximum advantage of their member- ship. THE event was addressed by Rudolph Psaila, Chairman of FinanceMalta. Psaila outlined the purpose of Fi- nanceMalta, namely promoting Malta as an international financial services centre, creating business and network- ing opportunities, as well as coordinat- ing with relevant industry players the overall promotion of the jurisdiction. He said the Foundation brings togeth- er all the stakeholders in the financial services industry, from the private and public sectors. Referring to 2020, Psaila said that this was an unprecedented year due to the ongoing pandemic, which changed completely the way FinanceMalta used to operate. "Despite these challenges, we sought to implement our strategy, based on five pillars, namely innovation, value crea- tion, inclusiveness, internationalisation and being digital," he said. Psaila gave an overview of the activi- ties and initiatives that FinanceMalta carried out last year: virtual conferenc- es, webinars, increased social media presence, a new membership mecha- nism and a brand new website, with an eye to continuing to provide value to its members while also addressing some of the challenges that the industry is fac- ing. He said that some of the main objec- tives for 2021 include seeking oppor- tunities on emerging and innovative sectors such as Sustainable Finance, Fintech and the Digital Economy, and increasing FinanceMalta's collaboration in the international financial services arena. With regards to upcoming initiatives, Mr Psaila announced the launch of a new series of podcasts and video pod- casts, which will take place in the com- ing weeks and months, in conjunction with key stakeholders and members. Moreover, he outlined a number of events and webinars which will provide members more value in terms of knowl- edge, networking and business oppor- tunities, whilst promoting the island as an innovative financial services centre. Psaila invited members to proactively submit their ideas for joint initiatives, underlining that FinanceMalta is open to cooperation proposals from its mem- bers to further promote the jurisdiction internationally. Cooperation with members will also be highlighted through a revamped so- cial media strategy focussed on inclu- siveness. e Q&A session that closed the meet- ing was moderated by Ivan Grech, Chief Operations Officer, and addressed vari- ous topics brought up by members. For more information or to become a member of FinanceMalta one can con- tact Ivan Grech, email info@finance- malta.org or visit https://www.finance- malta.org FinanceMalta meets its members and outlines plans for 2021 BANK of Valletta cash teller services will only be provided between 9am and 11am, as part of a number of new meas- ures announced on Wednesday. e bank is in fact limiting the range of services provided from certain branch- es after having considered the increase in the number of quarantined staff, its working parents who require to stay at home to take care of their young chil- dren and also the strong need to reduce non-essential contact to limit as much as possible the further spread of the contagion. Cash teller services will not be availa- ble at Luqa, Marsaxlokk, Msida, Mqab- ba, Santa Venera and Sliema Branches. e Bank's branches at St Julians and Mellieħa and its Xewkija Agency in Gozo will be temporarily closed until further notice. e withdrawal of cash from branch cash tellers is being discouraged and will only be allowed for amounts from €700 upwards. Customers are request- ed to use the Bank's extensive network of ATMs to withdraw cash. Customers who do not have a bank card and have less than €700 in their account will still be able to withdraw funds from branch tellers. Customers who do not have a bank card are being urged once again to apply for their free BOV Cashlink Card. Non-cash services will be offered solely by appointment. Customers requiring such services including in- vestments, homeloans, personal loans, rescheduling of loan repayments and application for new services are kindly being asked to request an appointment through https://www.bov.com/Assis- tants/set-an-appointment or by sending an email to info@bov.com or calling on 2131 2020. Customers are kindly asked to keep strictly to their appointment times. e number of customers inside branches will be restricted. Customers not being attended to will need to wait outside the Branch. Staff from other branches or units will not be allowed to serve in other branches and units so as to retain the same bubble. Regretful- ly this may result in a slower service in certain branches. e bank said it will continue to ser- vice and replenish its ATMs across Mal- ta and Gozo in the normal manner. Pensioners Asociation against €700 withdrawal minimum e Pensioners' Association of the General Workers' Union has expressed its dismay at BOV's decision to increase the minimum amount of cash that can be withdrawn through a bank teller from €500 to €700. is decision will add fur- ther burden on pensioners, it said. "Banks are moving in the direction of abolishing the teller service once and for all," the association said. "And this decision only strengthens our belief that BOV is usuing the pandemic as a smokescreen." Instead of taking further decisions against the pensioners on the pretext of the pandemic, the bank should be tak- ing appropriate measures to help the elderly, pensioners and the bank's staff through this difficult time. e Association said the bank's deci- sion was never brought up in discus- sions that the Association has had with BOV officials. "ese discussions were aimed at en- suring that the bank provides better service to pensioners and does not con- tinue to make life difficult for them, es- pecially during a pandemic, because it would be letting the community down," it said. e Pensioners Association called on financial services authorities to put an end once and for all to this unacceptable behaviour by banks, in this case BOV Bank, towards pensioners. BOV decision to raise teller withdrawal minimum to €700 raises union's ire