Financial institutions operate in a heavily regulated environment. Therefore, it is crucial that we understand and anticipate the impact of regulatory and legislative developments and appraise their impact on our business and our clients.
REGULATORS
The mission of a regulator in the financial industry is to augment public value, amplify the integrity and stability of the local and global market and to promote a fair competitive market environment. Regulators are proactive in monitoring the trends in the financial market and in identifying potential risks and indicators of misconduct at an early stage. They address such risks to the benefit of the general public and the financial market at large.
Regulators have a high supervisory role which makes it crucial to have a risk-based supervisory approach as a key to enhance the effectiveness of its role. Another important responsibility is to keep up with how the market is evolving and ensure that regulations cater to such innovative markets, whilst securing that their approach keeps pace with such changes.
Regulator’s banking supervision is responsible for the oversight of all licensed banking activities which includes non-bank financial institutions (e.g payments institutions). This includes off-site and on-site examinations of all licensed institutions applying a risk-based approach. The goal is to make sure that these licensed institutions comply with all regulations and license conditions and have the necessary corporate governance and control structures in place.
Payment services companies have found solutions that truly offer a better customer experience than those offered by traditional banks. They must comply with the same regulations as applicable to the traditional banks and regulators should ensure that payment institutions are subject to the same rules in important areas such as cybersecurity, privacy and anti-money laundering procedures.
PAYTAH IS A REGULATED FINANCIAL INSTITUTION
PAYTAH Payment Solutions (Phoenix Payments Ltd) is a regulated financial institution, licensed by the Malta Financial Authorities (MFSA) to provide payment services across all 28 EU and EEA member states. We operate under the legal framework of the PSD2.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF USING THE SERVICES OF A REGULATED FINANCIAL INSTITUTION?
Consumers that already familiar with using non-banking payment services are feeling safe knowing their provider is duly authorized and registered and is being supervised by the financial authority in the home country of the provider.
A licensed payment institution is following EU regulations, including anti-money laundering, fraud prevention, terrorist financing, etc and is operating in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. This provides customers the certainty that the provider offers trustworthy solutions and their payments are processed safely and securely.
As a result of a higher competition among all the financial industry, consumers now are entitled to demand greater standards of quality and higher convenience of making transactions.
THE FUTURE
New regulations should contribute to financial stability, supporting an ambitious environment and facilitate the delivery of high standard services to customers and society as a whole.
