Two years since its birth, Moneybase features on Microsoft’s customer stories

"Microsoft has a long history here in Malta. When I was still a student, Microsoft had a joint program with the Maltese government to support students’ digital literacy. So, when we came to build Moneybase using the best that cloud technology has to offer, choosing Microsoft was an easy decision. We felt very comfortable trusting them," states Alan Cuschieri, CEO and Founder of Moneybase Malta’s very own first Neobank.

Tell us a bit about Moneybase and its evolution

Calamatta Cuschieri launched Moneybase in 2022 as Malta’s first “Neobank”, a payments and investments platform enabling customers and businesses to send and receive SEPA payments, use a Multi-currency MasterCard, as well as access over 20,000 investments a under one ecosystem that is backed by and ISO certified customer care team. Two years later, with the entire platform entirely designed and developed with Microsoft Azure, Moneybase has just been featured on Microsoft’s latest Customer Stories.

Why Microsoft’s Azure?

A crucial prerequisite for Moneybase was choosing a robust, highly secure and scalable technology foundation because building Moneybase meant building a new core banking system from scratch and naturally, we wanted a robust solution using the best that cloud technology has to offer. Additionally, the decision to partner with Microsoft was rooted in Microsoft's well-established, on-the-ground support in Malta. Microsoft has been on this island long enough to understand our community and we knew that their presence here in Malta would bring us all the support we needed to navigate the complex cloud landscape so opting for Microsoft was the obvious decision because we trust them. From the outset, Moneybase was designed with Microsoft Azure which gave us great performance, flexibility and advantages in what the system can do.

Moneybase must have been a departure from your more traditional service offer…

Moneybase emerged from Calamatta Cuschieri Group which has been offering financial services and investment advice since 1971. In 2011, the Group launched the first trading platform in Malta for diverse financial instruments like funds, bonds, treasury bills, stocks, and exchange-traded funds. But in 2018 we were at a crossroads. We could either continue enhancing our legacy core banking systems or radically innovate. We decided to innovate but we needed scalability, business continuity, security, and geographical redundancy. So, we decided to invest in our own new cloud-first core banking system that supports complete wealth and payment solutions.

What was your ultimate goal?

The goal was to create an environment where secure and user-centric designs converge, bringing to life a neobank that aligns with the needs of modern customers. We wanted to deliver an innovative customer experience where technology blends the digital and physical to offer the best customer experience. That’s when Moneybase was born.

Where is Moneybase today?

Today, Moneybase offers payment and investment services to over 40,000 personal clients and has seen a 183% annualized growth in its customer base. The platform also offers business accounts to over 500 companies. Businesses can manage liquidity easily with access to interest bearing instruments such as treasury bills and money market funds and well as 20,000 investments all within one environment. Moneybase’s launch as the first fully digital wealth and payments platform went viral. The same year it was launched, the platform was also awarded prestigious accolades including ‘Best Financial Institution’ and ‘Best App’ awards.

How is the platform growing and expanding?

Today, Moneybase is focused on expanding its business account services, a sector where it has already made significant strides. We've just added Moneybase Business and we are opening accounts for businesses in 48 hours, which is unprecedented locally, as normally, banks have taken several months to do this. This focus on speed and cost-efficiency is part of a broader strategy to offer a comprehensive suite of financial services to businesses, including payment approvers and payroll integration with major accounting systems.

Technology must be a crucial component of Moneybase’s success

We are avant-garde and on top of technology. Both our digital processes and our infrastructure are well-established, providing an excellent foundation to continue building more services for our clients. Developing Moneybase in the robust cloud-based environment offered by Microsoft Azure gives us the scalability, security and flexibility needed to offer seamless digital services. Moneybase uses Dynamics 365 for its CRM, Microsoft 365 for collaboration and productivity, SharePoint for file storage, Microsoft Teams and Outlook for communication, and Microsoft Intune for device management, Moneybase ensures that internal collaboration is smooth, and data and devices are always secure.

As a Maltese business you must be very proud

Indeed, we are very proud of this award-winning platform which reflects our strong belief that managing one’s finances should be simple, easy and straightforward. We are also proud to be serving a growing customer ecosystem, from high-net-worth wealth management to digital-first customers. We can confidently say that we have the best overall platform locally, but also one which can compete internationally.