Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/994982
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 17 JUNE 2018 NEWS MARIA PACE THE durability and flexibility of traditional money has aided civilisations for centuries. Yet electronic payments are mak- ing stacks of cash and fum- bling around for coins a ves- tige of past, as some countries prepare to dive headlong into a cashless future. Malta is still lagging behind, with statistics from the Euro- pean Central Bank showing that 92% of all transactions are carried out in cash, as op- posed to Sweden where only 25% of Swedes paid in cash at least once a week in 2017, ac- cording to a survey by Insight Intelligence – down from 63 percent just four years ago. The ECB interviewed more than 65,000 European citizens for their analysis: although use of credit and debit cards has spread, cash remains a dominant force with 79% of payments in case, followed by 19% card payments. To the ECB, the results show that any move to a cashless future is "questionable". Malta's cash dominance makes it clear it will be one of the last countries to let go of cash, although one company is on the frontline of the cash- less 'revolution'. Myney was launched in 2016 as a mobile phone payment system that allows smart- phone users to top up an ac- count with money provider Fexserv, to affect payments by 'scanning' their phone. When Myney was first launched at the Chamber of Commerce, Fexserv expected some 600 businesses to show interest in the app. So far, there are 350 merchants ac- cepting Myney as a payment method. Head of sales and business development Adrian Cachia says Fexserv launched Myney as it spotted the international cultural shift in payment, an- ticipating the "difficulty" Mal- ta would face with changing money habits. "We knew that we had to be realistic in our expectations on Maltese shifting from cash and we hope that initiatives like ours and electronic pay- ments, in general, will start getting more support from the authorities be it in terms of incentives or policy," Cachia said. "Our ultimate tar- get market is not just the Maltese market, which we consider as laboratory size and a place to im- prove our technolo- gy, but also overseas markets where we have a number of interesting ongoing collaborations with international organ- isations on prospec- tive projects." The company now is intro- ducing a contactless prepaid Mastercard that is linked to the Myney payment account. In this way, all merchants ac- cepting card payments will automatically be able to ac- cept the Myney MasterCard, opening up tremendous op- portunities for the system. Electronic payments may be nothing new around the world, but Myney is the first Maltese-based company to in- troduce the service in Malta. Myney works as a down- loadable app through which users can open their own on- line payment account, with its own individual IBAN – just like a bank account, only held at Fexserv, which is itself an MFSA-licensed financial in- stitution. The IBAN connects users to the international traditional banking network allowing them to make payments in different currencies, as well as to received and hold money in their online account. More importantly, smart- phone users can pay in shops that accept Myney using a QR code or proximity payments. "We are now in the final stages of launching a contact- less MasterCard Debit Card, which can be used in ATMs, all shops that accept MasterCard and online. This card will be linked in real-time with your Myney account," Cachia said, who praises Myney's ability to give users immediate settle- ments without any additional commissions or transactions fees payable to banks. "It's practical in that it works from a mobile app, a device that we all carry with us now- adays," Cachia said, adding that the Myney network can be used to pay bills, salaries and services at no extra cost. And with its peer-to-peer function, Myney users can send and receive money from other 'non-Myney' individu- als, as long as they have a mo- bile phone number. But when linked with a pre- paid contactless MasterCard, such 'cashless' payment sys- tems like Myney allow users to transfer cash globally to any international bank ac- count, virtually reaching any shop around the globe. Cachia insists Myney is quickly gaining traction, mainly with the younger gen- eration and foreign workers. "Changing habits in other de- mographical categories takes Smartphone payments still to take Malta by storm Cash or app? like ours and electronic pay- Number of cash transactions Malta 92% Cyprus 88% Greece 88% Spain 87% Italy 86% Value of cash transactions Greece 75% Malta 74% Cyprus 72% Spain 68% Italy 68% Money doesn't talk. In Sweden, some outlets are literally making it a point not to take cash - including small shops like grocers and newsagents