The following was penned by Mark Curmi, CEO of fintech payment services firm Trumia, a licensed EMI in Malta offering multi-currency accounts and global payments

The landscape has shifted rapidly over the past years, fuelled predominantly by changing customer preferences and an appeal to digital life. Customers have a wide variety of options, and consumer preferences have changed completely. This shift can be partially attributed to the increased need for customer convenience and accessibility.

Today, a large part of convenience is in digitisation, which is exactly what E-Money Institutions (EMIs) specialise in. Traditionally, opening an account or making large payments included complicated paperwork, multiple visits to the service provider of choice and drawn-out conversations with employees. Now, customers can choose between a myriad of EMIs, open an account in minutes and make transactions anytime and anywhere with a few taps on their mobile device. Although customers have the luxury of choice, not many EMIs adjust to consumer needs adequately, leading to dissatisfaction in a world where customers are now accustomed to instant gratification.

Addressing pain points: Trumia's approach

Upon analysing consumer sentiment and industry trends, we see that digital financial services are becoming increasingly popular, and many customers prefer them over the more traditional service providers. This increase in popularity is due to the fact that EMIs offer a better digital user experience and tackle a few pain points other financial institutions aren’t prioritising.

We built Trumia to address these pain points specifically with effective solutions. Our main goal is to provide digital-first solutions that are straightforward and user-friendly for any customer. Trumia simplifies traditionally complicated processes, eliminates endless back-and-forth communication to complete a simple request, facilitates payments quickly and securely and generates payment reports instantly in-app. We use technology to innovate with the customer at the forefront of our operations and offer personalised services.

Trumia identified early on that tailoring solutions, experiences and operations to customers, both individual and corporate, is the best way for new EMIs to handle demand. With this philosophy, we will continue to innovate and adapt our digital services.

Unlike traditional institutions, which are typically characterised by a reluctance to adopt change, and are generally risk-averse, we plan to leverage technology to its fullest extent. Trumia is built on a foundation of efficient regulation, compliance and operational strategies to maintain a robust financial ecosystem. EMIs can operate in various regulatory jurisdictions, each with differing requirements and standards, allowing operational flexibility. For example, Trumia operates out of Malta due to the country’s balanced approach to compliance and an openness to international innovation.

Emphasising relationships - individuals, corporates, traditional financial institutions

Unlike many other EMIs, Trumia emphasises keeping customers at the centre of our operations and plans moving forward, which is reflected in our personalised service and dedicated customer care. We offer account managers for corporate customers to ensure everyone receives a tailored experience that large banks often can’t match. By borrowing the best practices from the gaming and entertainment sectors, Trumia has made significant strides in improving the onboarding process for corporate customers, making it smoother and easier all around.

Trumia has a unique approach to its relationships with traditional banks. Rather than competing directly for customers, we’ve partnered with traditional banks to extend their capabilities and improve their digital services. While we provide value for traditional banks through digitisation and modernisation, these partnerships allow more established customers to experience the Trumia ecosystem. This ecosystem is characterised by individuals gaining access usually reserved for corporate customer, while the latter can reach a broader customer base, benefitting all parties involved.

Meeting customer expectations in the digital age

Digital transformations aren’t easy to keep up with, especially now that EMIs are becoming commonplace and new technologies penetrate the industry often. Despite rapid change, it’s crucial to remember a few virtues when building resilient and reliable financial products: simplicity, efficiency, trust and transparency. We’ve seen that EMIs who implement these virtues early on and start small can transition into fully-fledged banks thanks to high demand and a loyal customer base.

Thus, to meet customer expectations and keep them engaged and loyal to a single financial institution, it’s important to create a mutually beneficial ecosystem that can easily be integrated with traditional banking. Trumia is trying to create and nurture this ecosystem with meaningful collaborations and solving unaddressed pain points with innovative technology and personalised services.