Open Banking in Malta: A Guide for 2026

Malta is rapidly transforming into a digital finance hub, with mobile banking surging and fintech innovation accelerating. As a country long known for financial services and iGaming, Malta is now pushing to modernise its financial infrastructure and attract more fintech businesses. There are 171 local startups according to Startupblink, as well as over 350 organisations in the FinanceMalta member directory. The local regulator, Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), has launched initiatives like the FinTech Regulatory Sandbox to help attract and support innovative financial services providers.

Malta has become a popular jurisdiction for PSD2 applications: according to BDO Malta’s analysis of the EBA peer review, Malta recorded a 43% increase in EMI and payment-services authorisation between 2022 and 2024, receiving the third-highest number of applications in the EU, and granting the highest number of authorisations, at 21. 

However, this does not necessarily mean all of these companies are focused on serving Maltese residents. In many cases, Malta is being used as a strategic base for those targeting the wider pan-European market rather than the domestic market alone with a population of just over 550 thousand people.

Open banking itself remains in the early stages, largely familiar to banks and consumers, but still navigating its path into mainstream merchant adoption. Let’s look at it in more detail.

What is Open Banking? A clear overview

Open banking is a modern, secure and cost-effective way for both businesses and consumers to access financial services. It allows individuals to authorise the sharing of their banking data and to initiate direct payments through secure APIs (application programming interfaces), typically provided by licensed banks and regulated third-party providers under the PSD2 directive.

These APIs enable two key services:

• Account Information Services (AIS): Gives access to real-time account balances and transaction histories. This is useful for budgeting tools, credit scoring, KYC processes and personalised analytics.
• Payment Initiation Services (PIS): Allows customers to make direct bank-to-bank payments, bypassing card networks. This often means faster settlement times and lower transaction costs.

For merchants and fintechs, open banking unlocks new possibilities by securely accessing banking information, with customer consent, to understand financial behaviour and tailor services better accordingly. Customers, in turn, benefit from streamlined checkout experiences, instant payments and flexible financing options that reduce friction and improve convenience.

In short, open banking is reshaping the way we pay, save and interact with financial services, combining strong security, user control and innovation within a single ecosystem.

How does Open Banking work in Malta?

Malta brought PSD2 into local law in August 2019, in line with wider EU rules. Its open banking framework is built around EU regulation, while also reflecting Malta’s focus on financial innovation. In practice, the market is shaped by PSD2, the Central Bank of Malta’s payment services framework, EBA guidance and Malta’s wider financial rulebook. 

From a technical point of view, Berlin Group is the main implementation standard used for open banking in Malta. Most major banks now offer sandbox and production APIs for AIS and PIS. Digital identification and compliance rely on EU-wide eIDAS frameworks.

Malta Open Banking overview: Scarce adoption & big potential

Malta remains digitally advanced, yet, unlike similarly digitalised countries (for example, Estonia), it is slow to embrace open banking in practice. While 96% of households have high-speed internet and over 60% of banking customers actively use mobile or online banking platforms, very few licensed AISPs or PISPs currently serve Maltese customers, indicating limited real-world usage as of 2026.

Overall, Malta’s open banking market in 2026 can be described as regulatorily mature but still commercially early to mid-stage. The legal and supervisory framework is in place, but the visible rollout of open banking use cases is still more limited than in markets like the UK, Central or Northern Europe.

A concentrated banking landscape

The market is fairly concentrated. The Central Bank of Malta has identified APS Bank, Bank of Valetta, BNF Bank, HSBC Bank Malta, Lombard Bank Malta and MeDirect Bank Malta as the country’s core domestic banks. Together, these banks represent more than 70% of the sector’s assets and have gone through major internal changes in recent years to modernise their legacy technology stacks, integrate AI-driven automation for risk management, introduce instant payments, biometric authentication and more to align with the MFSA’s expectations.

Consumer payment preferences

Consumer readiness looks stronger than merchant-side adoption. Digital banking is already well established in Malta. According to the Central Bank of Malta’s 2025 working paper,  98.1% of respondents have a payment account, 74.4% have access to a debit card and 58.6% have access to mobile banking. At the same time, cash is still considered the prevailing method for everyday and peer-to-peer payments, which means digital methods are growing alongside but not fully replacing traditional habits. 

The data also points to a clear generational divide: 49.5% of people who had opened an account with a fintech firm were aged 16–34, while only 14.0% of respondents over 55 had used a fintech company. Overall, Malta is becoming more digital, but the shift away from cash is still gradual.

Business adoption

Though more than 50% of Maltese financial services firms report taking steps toward digital transformation, including API readiness, actual deployment of open banking services in Malta remains scarce.

Meanwhile, the broader fintech sector shows promise, with surveys suggesting that 90% of firms have considered open banking; however, these discussions haven’t yet translated into a widespread rollout. 

E-commerce market

Finally, Malta’s e-commerce reached USD 451 million in 2025, with B2C accounting for about 84% of that, indicating strong digital maturity that isn’t yet matched by open banking adoption.

Payment Gateways in Malta

For e-commerce businesses operating in Malta, a mix of local and international payment providers is available.

• Local banks and PSPs: Maltese businesses often turn to BOV SmartPay, APS Bank and similar providers, which mainly offer card-based payment processing.
• Global PSPs, such as Stripe, Adyen, PayPal, Trust Payments, Viva.com, Transact Payments and others operate in Malta and offer multiple payment methods, yet for the local market still mostly offer traditional rails. 

Open Banking Providers in Malta

For those looking to integrate open banking solutions, a smaller pool of options is available.

• Local banks: Maltese banks, including APS Bank, Lombard Bank Malta, Bank of Valetta and others provide PIS and AIS access and developer portals.
• Pan-EU open banking specialist providers are accessible; however, their bank coverage specifically for Malta must be checked individually.

Future of Open Banking in Malta – Final Thoughts

The European Union’s upcoming PSD3/PSR package (likely to be implemented by late-2027) and Financial Data Access (FiDA) promise legally mandated multi-product data sharing and improved access to infrastructure. The MFSA’s sandbox and Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) updates are also reinforcing cyber and risk frameworks.

As Malta’s digital economy gains momentum, the role of open banking will become increasingly important. With over 60% of adults now using online or mobile banking and e-commerce steadily expanding year over year, the foundation for a connected, API-powered financial system is already in place. But despite having the regulatory framework (PSD2) and a digitally savvy population, open banking in Malta still feels more like potential than reality. The next two to three years will be pivotal: a chance for open banking to transition from being just a regulatory requirement to becoming a genuine commercial advantage, one that consumers actually interact with at checkout, during onboarding or when making financial decisions.

This article is provided for general informational purposes only.