Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1358359
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 APRIL 2021 13 COMMERCIAL MeDirect Bank demonstrates resilience and accelerates its transformation during an extraordinarily challenging year THROUGHOUT the COV- ID-19 pandemic, MeDirect delivered dynamic franchise growth and further invested in its WealthTech platform, in line with its strategic intent of scaling up as a retail-focused pan-European digital challeng- er bank. 2020 profitability was adversely affected by significant COVID-related impairments in the Group's legacy international corporate lending portfolio. The Group has remained resilient and operates with strong capital and liquidity ratios, well in ex- cess of regulatory requirements. In terms of business perfor- mance, the Group is on track with the delivery of its strategic transformation. As a systemically important bank supervised by the Euro- pean Central Bank, MeDirect Group continued to demon- strate resilience in the current challenging environment and remains well capitalised, with a strong funding and liquidity base, with ratios well in excess of regulatory requirements as of 31 December 2020. The Group's WealthTech platform operates with an open architecture model for mutual funds and brokerage. MeDirect continued to implement new digital solutions to provide customers with straightfor- ward services and seamless in- vesting and banking experienc- es. During 2020, it delivered on a number of fronts such as the launch of its mobile app, a re- vamped online e-banking plat- form and a fast and convenient digital onboarding process. These innovations were very well received by clients. In par- ticular in Belgium, which is a core market for the Group, MeDirect was assessed in in- dependent surveys as being amongst the top five Belgian banks for the quality of its sav- ings and investment products, mobile application and e-bank- ing platform. The Group is also further di- versifying its lending portfolio with strong risk management. Following a series of transfor- mational initiatives to diversi- fy the Group's asset base from its historic core focus on in- ternational corporate lending, this portfolio value was halved from its peak of Eur1.8 billion as of 31 March 2019 to Eur0.9 billion as of 31 December 2020. 2020 was a year of steady growth in the Group's Dutch government-supported (NHG) mortgage business, as the Group's Belgian banking sub- sidiary built a portfolio of Eur1.1 billion as of 31 De- cember 2020. Following the dynamic ramp-up of its NHG mortgage business line, Me- Direct Belgium is looking to expand its Dutch residential mortgage business and is ex- ploring new opportunities in the attractive Belgian residen- tial mortgage market. In Q2 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic lock- downs, the Group successfully obtained third-party financing in the Dutch Residential Mort- gage-Backed Security (RMBS) market. As a result of the transaction, MeDirect Belgium raised Eur350 million of long- term lower cost funding and diversified its funding sources. The Group's success in obtain- ing low-cost financing from third party investors in such a difficult market environment demonstrated investor confi- dence in MeDirect's business model and growth strategy. A second RMBS transaction, which raised Eur350 million at even more attractive fund- ing cost levels, closed in early 2021. The second transaction confirmed the Group's abili- ty to access wholesale funding even in highly challenging mar- ket environments. MeDirect Group successfully attracted international Tier 2 investors through the issuance in February 2021 of Eur11 mil- lion subordinated notes. Such access to institutional investors in the capital markets allowed the Group to continue the di- versification of the capital base. The purpose of this issuance was to reinforce and optimise the Group's regulatory capital and to support the execution of its business growth strategy. The Group continued to build its franchise by offering attractive savings products and wealth solutions. These prod- ucts have continued to drive growth in client financial as- sets (deposits and assets under management), which reached Eur3.9 billion as of 31 Decem- ber 2020, an increase of 15% from Eur3.4 billion as of 31 December 2019. MeDirect Bel- gium delivered even more dy- namic growth in client finan- cial assets, with an 18% growth over the same period. GoTo powers forward with new app, new branding and more GOTO has just launched a whole new look and customer experience following a compre- hensive rebranding exercise. Now in its third year of op- eration in Malta, as GoTo continues to expand its range of multi-modal services avail- able through the company's mobile app, it has curated its new brand strategy to reflect how far the eco-friendly shared mobility operator has come, as well as the many transport innovations it continues to pi- oneer. An upgraded visual identity, shaped around a new chev- ron-centred logo and featuring an extended colour palette, al- so reaffirms GoTo as an inte- gral part of Malta's transport network. Meanwhile, the multi-modal vehicle sharing platform has revised its pricing plans around the idea that 'all wheels are created equal'. Regardless of whether a customer chooses to travel via a shared car or a scooter, the first 15 minutes of any trip will now cost just €2.50. The GoTo app, which launched alongside the service provider locally in 2018, has al- so been completely redesigned with the customer in mind. The up- graded app features a new, more us- er-friendly vehicle booking screen that separates the Roundtrip service from the Scooters and One-Way cars. Available for download from the Apple App or Google Play stores, the new GoTo app also boasts im- proved performance, better pricing transparency, and enhanced vehicle grouping. Furthermore, the update will soon add many more features that will make the experience with GoTo even better for its subscribers. More information about GoTo can be found at www.goto.com.mt. The GoTo app is available for download from Google Play and the Apple App Store. 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