The Financial Capability Conference & Awards 2025, co-organised by JA Malta Foundation and CapableMind, brought together policymakers, educators, regulators, NGOs and industry leaders at the Radisson Blu Resort to advance Malta’s digital finance and financial literacy agenda.

Centred on the theme “Digital Finance Frontiers: Empowerment through Technology and Education,” the event explored how behavioural insights, collaboration, and technology can drive better financial outcomes across all sectors of society.

JA Malta CEO Matthew Caruana described the conference as “not only a platform for recognition but also a call to action,” noting that “building a financially capable society requires collaboration between educators, industry leaders, and policymakers.”

Co-lead Petra Ellul Mercer highlighted that digital and financial skills must be designed for real people and different life stages: “When we combine them, and build with behavioural insights from the start, we will create tools that meet peoples’ specific needs: from digital-native teens to older adults taking their first steps online.”

This year’s Financial Capability Awards recognised individuals and organisations that have made exceptional contributions toward advancing financial literacy in Malta.

• Individual Award: Patrick Debattista – Finance For You
• For-Profit Organisation Award: Scope
• Non-Profit Organisation Award: Chelsea Bonnello, Archbishop’s Seminary Minor – SharkTank Experience

Special Recognition Awards were also presented to several key initiatives shaping Malta’s financial education ecosystem. These included Daniel Magrin and the BOV team for their comprehensive Financial Literacy Programme; Andrew Calleja (Head of Department – Digital Literacy) for developing a FinAgent to support educators; Rozina Sidhu Koskela from The Garage for entrepreneurship support; Sarah Pulis and the MFSA team for their Go Sustainable – Dodge Greenwashing project; and Glenn Mifsud of St Augustine College for a three-year programme in Applied Award in Financial and Employability Skills.

'Financial freedom isn’t a number'

JA Malta Foundation CEO Matthew Caruana presenting Patrick Debattista his award

Among this year’s honourees, Patrick Debattista expressed deep gratitude for being named Best Individual Award in Financial Literacy.

“I’m deeply humbled and grateful to receive the Best Individual Award in Financial Literacy. This one feels very personal. It instantly made me think of my mother: The best financial manager I’ve ever known,” he tells WhosWho.mt.

Reflecting on his mother’s influence, he continues: “I’ve never seen anyone do so much with so little. Her resilience and strength in difficult times taught me the real meaning of discipline and resourcefulness.

But despite her wisdom, she never had the chance to learn to invest or to make her money grow. Like so many others, she worked hard, saved what she could, yet remained stuck in a cycle of financial scarcity.

That’s what drives my work today: To give people the tools, knowledge and confidence to make smarter financial decisions and create the freedom they deserve."

He adds that the biggest lesson he's learned is that financial freedom isn’t a number, "It’s about replacing fear with understanding, and giving people the chance to build a better future for themselves and their families.”

Closing the event on behalf of the Ministry for Education, Horace Laudi, Senior Policy Consultant, called for continued cross-sector alignment, stating that collaboration in digital finance “is not a courtesy, it is a necessity.”