Members Spotlight - Nium
Money platform that makes the world go around.
Nium’s Global Head of Card Business, Mark Anthony Spiteri, explains how the company became a global leader in real-time payments, able to move money in over 100 currencies to over 190 countries.
Picture: Mark Anthony Spiteri, SVP and Global Head of Card Business, Nium
For those who don’t know your company, can you provide some background?
Today, businesses continue to face costly hidden fees, significant delays, and uncertainty every time they send or collect an international payment via Swift or a wire transfer. What’s more, these methods are only available to businesses using a select number of banks in a select number of countries across the globe.Nium was founded to solve this problem and empower businesses to unlock the full potential of the global economy. Its real-time payments infrastructure platform is facilitating faster, cheaper, and more reliable payments for businesses across borders. Some of the world’s largest banks, financial institutions, travel, ecommerce, insurance, payroll and spend management companies are built on Nium’s real-time payments infrastructure.We enable our customers to expand into new markets and unlock revenue opportunities with market-leading geographical and payment service breadth. Today, we have issued over 75 million virtual and physical cards worldwide and currently support payouts in over 100 currencies to over 190 countries.Nium holds regulatory licences and authorisations in more than 40 countries around the world, enabling seamless onboarding, rapid integration, and compliance – independent of geography. The company is co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Malta, Lithuania, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and Brazil.
Can you share a little-known fact about your company?
Nium is one of the first B2B payment unicorns from Southeast Asia. Today, the company has grown from a local challenger founded in Singapore to a leading global player. In 2021, Nium acquired Ixaris, a travel payments technology company based in Malta. This enabled Nium to expand its travel payments offering to new growth markets beyond Europe and bring card issuing capabilities to its customers in other industries. Nium also holds an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence through the Malta Financial Services Authority.
What are you currently working on and what are your company’s plans and strategic priorities for the coming years?
Nium’s strategic priorities are primarily centred on global expansion and product innovation. We are constantly striving to find ways to enter new markets and enhance our payment solutions to be able to better serve our customers in more places around the world, with a strategic focus on APAC and LATAM in 2024.
Are there any projects/achievements of your company that you are exceptionally proud of?
In a relatively short amount of time, Nium has achieved remarkable milestones in a highly competitive and regulated industry.Nium has successfully expanded its footprint across multiple geographies, including the United States, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. In tandem with this expansion, we have established offices and forged strategic bank partnerships in key financial hubs, enabling us to facilitate international money transfers and offer a comprehensive suite of payment services.Central to Nium's success and growth has been our product innovation. We have developed a diverse range of cutting-edge solutions designed to streamline cross-border payments and meet the needs of our customers.These accomplishments have been acknowledged through a number of prestigious awards worldwide. These include Nium’s recognition on Forbes’ /fintech 50 list of the most innovative companies in financial technology today, as well as CB Insight's /fintech 250 list and /fintech Magazine’s Top 100 Companies in 2023, underscoring our dedication to excellence and innovation in the global /fintech landscape.
What in your opinion makes Malta an effective jurisdiction to set up a business?
Malta is strategically located in the heart of the Mediterranean, making it a gateway between Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, thus providing businesses with regulated access to multiple markets. Being a member of the European Union also offers business access to the EU Single Market, including free movement of goods, services and capital. Adding to this, one finds a diverse and highly educated workforce, making it easier for companies to hire great talent and to operate in multiple languages.Over the years, Malta has developed into a prominent financial services hub. Regulatory bodies like the Malta Financial Services Authority, as well as incentive programs supporting startups and innovative companies, make Malta an attractive location for many /fintechs looking to expand in Europe.
What kind of people/companies in the financial services community would you want to connect with?
Nium is committed to fostering connections and building a robust network within the financial services industry. Being well connected with different stakeholders is the key to successfully running a business. We work with banks, financial institutions, and other /fintech players and speak to them every day. Specifically, for Nium’s Malta operations, our primary goal is to continually expand our knowledge of the diverse range of services offered in the sector and to stay current with local and European regulatory updates that directly impact our business.
Bio
Mark Anthony is SVP and Global Head of Card Business at Nium, the leader in real-time global payments. In his current role, Mark oversees the strategic expansion of Nium’s card products, use cases and coverage. Today, he also leads a team of over 80 people located in Nium’s Malta office. Prior to Nium, Mark joined travel payments company Ixaris as a junior developer in 2005, growing with the business to become Ixaris CEO and COO before the company was acquired by Nium in 2021.