In business you have to have a vision. And if you are going to have a vision, it might as well be a big one. David Borg Hedley certainly has that. Fexserv has spent over three years working on its mobile payment solution, wanting something that went well beyond anything on the market – and also something that would be well-placed to compete with the ePOS systems that so many merchants only grudgingly use.
The general manager explains that the new system, Myney, is aimed at consumers but that it really comes into its own for merchants, offering a very competitive fee structure that will give them alternatives to the set-up, negotiable fees and ongoing commissions associated with ePOS.
It was developed in conjunction with NTT Data Italia, a subsidiary of NTT Data of Japan, one of the world’s largest IT services companies and has functions which Mr Borg Hedley said take it to a whole new level – making it a serious contender for international take-up.
“What we have put together is also new to Europe and the world. There is nothing like it in terms of functionality,” he said.
In fact, Myney was promoted at recent financial services mega-conference – SIBOS in Geneva –from the NTT stand, attracting considerable interest and media coverage.
“We also spoke to Innotribe, a division of Swift, and the high ranking official set up a Myney account there and then as we were speaking. He loved the system!”
Local take-up has been better than expected – encouraging for a totally new product – mostly due to the hands-on approach of his sales team. But these early adopters will, undoubtedly, encourage others to use Myney, resulting in exponential growth. He said that 86 businesses and professionals are already accepting mobile payments, with well over another hundred interested and at various stages of adopting it.
Very soon we will have some 600 shops accepting Myney payments. Because it is so straightforward, many people use it for even small transactions
The focus has been on making it accessible with a business model based on volume and not revenue.
“From the point of view of an individual, we wanted it to be free and only charge a pittance if over 100 purchase transactions are made during a particular month.
“For merchants, a €35 annual fee for an account is charged, and every month100 transactions are free with €2 for an additional 100,” he said. “And if the money stays within the Myney system, rather than being transferred out immediately to a traditional bank account, there are pretty much no extra charges for merchants. They can use the funds to pay their suppliers, their employees’ salaries and so on. If they, however, transfer money to a bank account, then we would charge one per cent – which is still competitive to what is charged for ePOS.”
The purchase process offers merchants three ways for accepting payments: either by directly letting the consumer scan the QR code generated by the merchant’s smartphone; a beacon which transmits the data from the merchant’s smartphone to the consumer’s smartphone for approval; or an integration of the Myney software in the cash-register system of the large entities like supermarkets or retailers which would link with the press of a button to the customer’s smartphone. Q Supermarket in Paceville is using the latter, and the Convenience Shops are installing it across all their 40 outlets across the coming weeks. In the near future, it will also be possible to use it to pay utility bills.
“Very soon, we will have some 600 shops accepting Myney payments. Because it is so straightforward, many people use it for even small transactions – and we encourage shops not to impose a minimum spend. I have even bought milk with it!” he said, noting that there was no minimum upper limit.
“It is faster than paying with cash (not to mention safer than carrying cash around) and much faster than using a card.”
In its simplest form, a trader requiring payment would merely enter the amount owed by the customer’s and a QR code will be displayed which the customer’s phone can read, or the beacon can be used. All the customer needs to do is accept and the payment is made there and then – already an improvement over the two days it would normally take for the payment to get into the trader’s account.
A huge advantage is that the system only needs Wi-Fi or a 3G connection, meaning that traders on the move can also use it, from flower vendors to doctors making house calls.
Setting up an account has also been made as easy as possible, with everything being done over the smartphone – including taking photos of identity documents and automatically reading and registering the information – and even verifying them against a selfie of the applicant. Money can be transferred to the account in numerous ways, all linked to the unique Iban number generated on registration which takes just a few minutes.
It is a bit different for business: after all this is a financial product, authorised by the Malta Financial Services Authority, and Fexserv has six compliance officers, a ‘know your customer’ procedure and due diligence to ensure that the system is not abused. Neverthless, Mr Borg Hedley said a business account could be concluded within a few days.
Once people make the first purchase, they will be completely hooked. It’s so easy and free
There are also conditions imposed with regards to younger clients in terms of functionality available and the maximum value of transactions.
The system was designed with security in mind. The money is held in the customer’s account – not on the phone itself – with the customer able to opt for the minimum value before a PIN is required, if at all.
Now that it has been launched in Malta, the world beckons and the company is ready to grow as required, having already added 40 to its headcount of 24 – every department having grown.
“Having an EU member state’s licence means that we can use passporting to offer it across the EU, but we can also partner with other institutions in other jurisdictions. It is capable of handling international currencies too, so we are able to offer an eco-system for each country,” he said, adding that this was a natural thing given Fexserv’s roots in this sector. A prepaid card is also available and the system also comes with a digital version of Fexserv’s popular One4All gift vouchers branded as Myney Gift.
“The system was designed to be customised to different scenarios. For example, it can be linked to a public transport card. We are also looking at communities – say networks of a few thousand people – to get them on our system. Where will we be in five years’ time? We had a plan before we even started. There is no reason at all why anyone who has a smartphone would not have the app and once they make the first purchase, they will be completely hooked. It’s so easy and free.”