Cyprus has long been known as a hub for the financial services sector, and the new generation of fintech start-ups is now adding to its popularity.
ECOMMBX–
According to the Central Bank of Cyprus,there are currently 14 electronic money institutions (EMIs) and 10 authorized payment institutions (PIs) active on this dynamic Mediterranean island, with another 43 applications pending.
One of the most exciting and ambitious of these is ECOMMBX. Originally licensed as an EMI in 2017 and headquartered in Nicosia, ECOMMBX had lofty goals from the outset. “We have always been determined to develop one of the most powerful electronic payments systems in the world, capable of offering customers seamless cross-border transactions,” says Michael Christos G. Charalambides, ECOMMBX founder and CEO. “Our goal has always been to grow and expand beyond the Mediterranean region.”
Charalambides’s track record suggests he has every chance of turning this vision into reality. An early champion of fintech, his first company was largely responsible for breaking the monopoly of the country’s brick-and-mortar banks, and many of the elite team of so-called Spartans who form the beating heart of ECOMMBX have been with him for the best part of a decade.
Charalambides is, however, insistent that it is not his intention to pose an existential threat to Cyprus’s network of local banks. Rather, his vision is to help them adapt to a rapidly changing business environment. “I don’t see us as competing with the local banks,” he says. “We’re actually trying to work with them. We are inviting them to share platforms and technology and to exchange ideas and services. We’re not looking to extend credit lines or to set ourselves up as a retail bank.”
ECOMMBX was never interested in businesses looking for lending facilities or credit lines. Rather, the company from the start focused on businesses wanting to harness the power of digital technology to streamline functions such as their forex activities or to improve the application programming interface (API) of their payroll systems or their customer relationship management (CRM). ECOMMBX currently specializes in e-account management, cross-border payments, and multi-currency conversions. It also issues credit cards for businesses at both white label and retail level, as well as facilitating online payments. E-products of ECOMMBX is a principal member of both Visa and MasterCard.
What each of these and every other product in the company’s cons
