When speed is of the essence

Entropay is one of the success stories you have probably never heard about. Mark Anthony Spiteri, its chief operating officer, believes the time has come to change that.

How did Entropay get its start in Malta?

Every product starts with a problem. Ours was simple:online payments should be universally accessible.

We were a small team based here in Malta at a timewhen the latest payment technologies were not alwaysavailable and advancements moved slowly. We couldn’tjust wait for someone else to solve our problem, so weset out to speed up a solution.

Part of the Ixaris Group, Entropay was founded in2003 by Alex Mifsud to provide online paymentsto everyone, regardless of their location orcreditworthiness. It was a lonely time to be an internetbusiness - Facebook, Gmail and YouTube didn’t existyet! - but an exciting one. We added our line to theinternet’s history book, introducing the first virtualVisa cards in Europe. And 8.8 million cards and 15years later, we’ve found our niche in the make-or-breakglobal gaming sector, where we developed the kindof unprecedented fraud-fighting system that today’sfintech apps can only aspire to achieve.

Can you tell us more about the products Entropay is building here?

Entropay cards are virtual Visa cards, which you caninstantly create in sterling, dollars or euro. They’rereloadable, and you can also delete them after justone use to protect yourself from fraud. Using thenewest Visa Direct and Mastercard MoneySendtechnologies, we have just disrupted the disruptorswith the beta release of Entropay Transfers, aninstant money transfer product. Finally, EntropayEnterprise is our whitelabel transfers product, builtfor some of the world’s biggest brands.

Disrupted the disruptors? How exactly?

The average bank transfer takes one day to receive.Many fintech apps take three days to send orreceive money. Entropay transfers take less than 30seconds: that’s 2,880 times faster than a SEPA banktransfer, and up to 8,600 times faster than otherfintech products. We consider this a very significant and exciting development, not just within ourindustry but for anyone who sends money (which ispractically everyone!)

We’re serious about speed, and it affects everythingwe do at Entropay. The people that power ourproducts relentlessly shave milliseconds off loadingspeeds and response times, so the people who useour products can spend their time in a smarter way.

On that note, why haven’t we heard about Entropay before?

Entropay has definitely flown under the radar. Inhindsight, I think we have been Malta’s secret techsuccess story. However, together with Entropay’sExecutive Chairman David Sear and CCO AranBrown, I believe it is important to give a voice andvisibility to brands doing something different inMalta, supporting sustainable growth in our local ITscene and pushing innovation through our financialsector. This is why we’ve decided to shout louderabout the genuinely interesting and impactful thingswe’ve been doing at Entropay.

It is important to give a voice and visibility to brands doing something different in Malta, supporting sustainable growth in our local IT scene and pushing innovation through our financial sector

What was your part in Entropay’s success story?

I’ve been with Entropay almost since the verybeginning. In 2005, I joined the company as asenior developer, having read for a degree inComputer Science & Artificial Intelligence atthe University of Malta where Alex (Entropay’sfounder) was lecturing. I spent years building theproduct from the inside out with Alex, eventuallybecoming product manager and then generalmanager.

Entropay supported me in completing a MastersDegree in Entrepreneurship at the University ofMalta. Later, in 2017 I became Entropay’s chiefoperating officer; the same year we achieved over45% year-on-year growth. It’s been an excitingride, and I’m keen to see where it takes our team,which now numbers 45 people working betweenour London and Malta offices.

Are there any challenges you face in Malta that your London colleagues don’t, or vice versa?

[Laughs] Some Maltese might think our trafficis terrible, but I think our London colleaguesdefinitely have a longer commute than us. It takessome of them longer to get to their office thanit does to fly to Malta! So, we certainly have anadvantage in that respect.

In all seriousness, though, in regards to resources oropportunities in Malta (or a perceived lack thereof),the truth is you have to make them for yourself,not rely on them being handed to you. And thatis no different than the situation in any other city,whether London or elsewhere.

If Entropay could grow to become what it is todayfrom Malta, the sky is indeed the limit for teamsthat are focused and ambitious.

Fintech seems like an obvious area where Malta can see growth, given its booming IT and financial services sectors. What do you think is key to sustainable growth in this sector?

It’s simple, really: build things the right way.It’s easy to get caught up in the buzz about trendytechnologies and cryptocurrencies, and at Entropay,we’re all for pursuing innovation. But the winnersin fintech will be those who seek innovation with aneye to usefulness and uniqueness, and a relentlessdedication to building products based on solidfoundations.

For Entropay, that means an impeccable fraudand security record (fraudulent activity makes upless than 0.5 per cent of all our transactions; theindustry standard is 1-3 per cent) and the supportof key partners.

There are no shortcuts in this industry. (M)

More on Entropay at entropay.com

Photography: Jan Zammit (janzammit.com)

Production & styling: Amanda Gibbs for Hangar(hangar.co)