Simplicity through innovation in payment technology

Finance Incorporated Limited is a Business Reporter client.

Finance Incorporated Limited is harnessing the potential of digital payments to provide solutions to sole traders, large businesses and individuals, as well as financial institutions themselves.

New technologies are revolutionizing the way financial transactions work. Developments such as mobile digital payments, blockchain and artificial intelligence mean that payments are becoming less about the movement of money and more about the transfer of data. With the right infrastructure behind them, financial institutions, businesses and individuals can improve their own offering to customers and turn payments into a competitive advantage.

Finance Incorporated Limited is instrumental in helping organizations adopt such innovation. Initially created in 2012, the company has evolved into an alternative digital bank as well as a partner organization for other financial institutions. “We work with other banks and financial institutions so that their clients can carry out transactions through us. Additionally, we work with merchants (brick-and-mortar and e-commerce) to process their payments,” says Cenk Kahraman, CEO, Finance Incorporated Limited. “We also work with retail and corporate clients who have their payment accounts with us. “We are effectively an alternative digital bank for them.” Headquartered in Malta, the organization is now looking to expand into the European market, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Italy.

Paymix SoftPOS

On the business front, large corporations, retailers and even small businesses are relatively well served in a competitive market, Kahraman says, but there is a gap when it comes to sole proprietors – sole traders or the self-employed. “This group represents 69 percent of the companies established in Europe, so there are more individual entrepreneurs than corporations,” he explains. “But they are generally not the most profitable customers for traditional banks.”

Paymix SoftPOS is specifically designed to meet the needs of individual merchants, allowing them to accept contactless payments using their phone without the need for additional hardware and without regular monthly fees.

Combining this with Finance Incorporated Limited's own Mastercard debit card means much faster processing times, allowing sole traders and freelancers to spend the money immediately without long waits for it to clear. Potential customers span a broad spectrum, Kahraman says: taxi drivers, manicurists or piano teachers, for example, as well as small businesses like restaurants.

Paymix Pro

Meanwhile, for larger businesses, Paymix Pro offers a fast, transparent and accessible financial solution, incorporating accounts, payments and cards. Created by Finance Incorporated Limited itself, it also includes the ability to make bulk payments through an online corporate portal, meaning organizations can access banking services through their existing ERP or accounting software.

“With the push of a button, they can initiate 50,000 payments a day,” Kahraman explains. “This feature has been made possible by a comprehensive, bespoke risk monitoring system that assesses any transaction coming in or going out, and means we can offer customers a different level of service compared to traditional banks.”

An e-commerce platform allows customers to pay through different methods and in different currencies and countries, using the SWIFT and SEPA networks. Companies can also offer their own employees Mastercard debit cards and can set variable limits for different functions or individuals.

ipaymix

At the other end of the scale, iPaymix is ​​firmly aimed at people offering an e-wallet account to anyone who wants to bank online. Customers can load money into the e-wallet account from a credit or debit card attached to their main bank and can also get a debit card attached to the account, allowing them to make payments in stores.

The product is especially suitable for expatriates living in Europe. The current target markets are those living in Malta, Germany, Italy and Spain. “The account opening process is completely automated through your phone, including verifying your identity,” says Kahraman. A credit card offer will also be launched soon, he adds.

Beyond these products, Finance Incorporated offers additional services, including allowing financial institutions or businesses to offer their own payment cards to employees or customers, and a card data processing system that allows financial institutions to communicate with Visa and Mastercard in encrypted form.

Kahraman believes that, after a few years of evolution, financial institutions will divide into two camps: traditional banks specializing in loans and deposits, and specialists in digital payments. “Cards will be one element of this, but not the only one,” he says. “There will also be significant consolidation in the market, because there are too many players right now.”

As for Finance Incorporated Limited, Kahraman foresees long-term expansion both west and east of its Maltese base. “In the east we look at the Middle East, India and the Pacific, and in the west we look at the UK and North America,” he says.

To learn more about how Finance Incorporated Limited could help your business develop financial solutions for a digital future, visit financeincorp.com.