Andaria first EMI in Malta to secure principal membership with three major card schemes

Leading FinTech company Andaria has just secured principal membership with Visa, Mastercard and Discover. The company is the first and only Electronic Money Institution (EMI) in Malta to achieve this milestone, placing it among a small group of European EMIs with direct multi-scheme access.

Coinciding with the defining moment was a visit by Malta’s Minister for Finance, Clyde Caruana, to Andaria’s offices at the Phoenix Business Centre in Santa Venera.

Mr Caruana was given a tour of the company’s offices by Andaria CEO Kurt Azzopardi, who also introduced the teams responsible for technology infrastructure, operations and regulatory oversight, and offered a view of how the organisation has scaled its capabilities in recent years.

“Becoming Malta’s only EMI with direct access to the three major card schemes is a milestone that elevates the entire ecosystem, enabling local and international businesses to build payment solutions with global capabilities,” Mr Azzopardi states, adding that the organisation’s long-term strategy aligns with Malta’s wider ambitions for digital finance.

“The significance of this most recent achievement goes beyond formal recognition for us, as it reflects a move into a different tier of the payments ecosystem, one defined by direct access rather than intermediated arrangements,” he elaborated.

Principal membership with Visa, Mastercard and Discover gives Andaria direct access to three of the world’s major card networks, allowing it to support advanced digital issuance, tokenisation, cross-border functionality and accelerated go-to-market delivery, particularly for businesses operating in regulated environments.

“This development means that Malta has now joined a small number of European jurisdictions hosting an EMI with direct multi-scheme access. In practical terms, it moves our country closer to the operational layer of the payments ecosystem, rather than positioning it solely as a regulatory base,” Mr Azzopardi continued.

The shift, which has strengthened Malta’s position as a European FinTech hub, is a direct result of an operations strategy that places increasing focus on execution and on building secure and flexible financial infrastructures aligned with international standards.

The Minister’s visit highlights the sector’s journey towards strengthening infrastructure and consolidating Malta’s role within Europe’s FinTech and digital payments sector, with Andaria emerging as a main driver in this regard.