Updated 6 pm 

Customers of a Malta-based electronic money institution (EMI) say they have been unable to access their funds for several days and have received no response when contacting the company for help.

They also said they have been unable to make cash deposits with Emoney PLC (‘Em@ney PLC’) for more than a month and have been unable to log into their online accounts since last week.

A company spokesperson said later on Tuesday that a change in management had caused "technical difficulties" with its IT systems and that it is working with customers to restore access to their funds. 

Over the weekend, the company told customers it had discontinued SEPA transfers – a system for transferring funds between European bank accounts – and did not know when it would be able to offer the service in the future.

Emoney also said it was permanently discontinuing its debit cards while “already working on a new card project” – less than two months after announcing it was partnering with the General Workers’ Union (GWU) to offer debit cards to its members.

Three years ago, the company was fined €360,000 by the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU) for a series of anti-money laundering breaches concerning clients involved in passport sales, cryptocurrency and with potential links to organised crime.

When Times of Malta visited the company premises in Pietà on Monday, it was not allowed in, with staff saying the office was not in a suitable state to accommodate visitors following its recent move to offices in Ta’ Xbiex.

Staff also said they were unable to reach the company director responsible at the time of the visit and refused to share the director’s name, calling it “internal information”.

In a later response sent by e-mail that only addressed questions about issues with cash deposits, the company said that service had been “discontinued by the new board of directors which took control of the operations of the company around one month ago”.

It said that “with all due respect to all clients”, cash deposits were a “very limited niche service used by a handful of clients in 2024 for a negligible turnover”.

Emoney said the new directors believed the company “should focus on innovative solutions rather than on cash management”.

As such, there was “no issue to be solved, this service no longer falls under the services the company is going to offer to its customers going forward,” it said.

Cannabis associations vulnerable

The issues affecting the company were first flagged by cannabis association owners, who said they had been left with no other option but to open an account with Emoney when launching due to mainstream banks not offering them accounts at the time.

Times of Malta understands that most, if not all, cannabis associations had or still operate accounts with Emoney, leaving the sector particularly vulnerable to the recent problems.

But the issues do not appear to be confined to business customers in Malta; comments posted to Emoney’s Facebook page and in a group dedicated to financial services in Malta indicate customers in Italy are also facing similar problems.

Yesterday, a pop-up on the company’s website said it had “reached a milestone” and was introducing a new IT system, while asking customers to contact its support department by e-mail so it could “explain how to access the new system”.

But association owners who spoke to Times of Malta on condition of anonymity said that despite repeated e-mails to the company, they have yet to receive further information. 

One owner said he had been unable to access funds of around €13,000 for five days, adding that while he understood IT issues could happen, “the fact that e-mails aren’t being replied to is worrying”.

Explaining the login issues, he said account holders used to be asked for their ‘user code’ (account number) and an authentication code provided by SMS. As of this week, the Emoney website requests users to provide their user code and a password.

None of the Emoney customers Times of Malta spoke to said they had been provided with a password for their account.

Now I can't even log in... I'm worried- Cannabis association owner

Another association owner said the issues were “affecting us a lot” and that he had been unable to pay salaries since July after not being able to access the more than €4,000 held in his association’s Emoney account.

“We were told we couldn’t deposit cash but were given no reason; when we asked, they said they were not in a position to tell us,” he said, adding he had contacted the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) about the matter last month.

“Now I can’t even log in; I sent an e-mail on Thursday requesting access and I still haven’t had a reply... I’m worried.”

Different explanations

Association owners also report being given different explanations for the outages; one said they had been attributed to a change in company director, while another said the company had told him they were undergoing a “periodic review” by the FIAU, during which time account services would be unavailable.

“I don’t understand how they can just freeze accounts, this is unheard of,” one person said. “It’s not as professional as you’d expect a bank to be.”

Another owner said he had been e-mailing the company “constantly” but had been unable to access his account for three days.

Describing being asked to contact the company to ask for access to his account “really strange”, he said he hoped to change to a mainstream bank soon.

Association owners said Emoney charged them an account fee of €1,500 per year.

Other options

While BOV said it has been offering accounts to cannabis associations since August last year, sources said the bank had only started opening bank accounts from April after being assured of associations meeting strict regulations by the authority governing the sector.

Times of Malta understands that only two cannabis associations have bank accounts with BOV at the time of publication.

The GWU said that, due to the planned partnership being in its “initial stages, no member has been negatively affected by the potential withdrawal of EMoney’s services”.

It said that, although it had not been “officially informed of any developments relating to EMoney’s operations”, it was “monitoring the situation” to assess the service’s applicability to its members.

Change in management caused 'technical difficulties' 

In a statement on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the company said a “significant change in management” had led to difficulties with its IT (information technology) infrastructure.  

The spokesperson said the company had encountered “technical difficulties” while changing IT provider from one owned by the previous management, who had also refused to hand over customer data.  

“Unfortunately, the previous management has also been uncooperative in providing customer data, which has contributed to further delays in releasing funds for some customers,” the spokesperson said.  

He said Emoney had asked customers to provide updated KYC (‘know your customer’) information and that it had been “working to release funds to several customers who have completed their updated KYC due diligence paperwork.” 

The spokesperson called the requirement “a necessary step to comply with regulatory requirements and to ensure the continued security and legitimacy of all accounts.” 

Describing the situation as “delicate and complex,” he said the company was “working around the clock to resolve any outstanding issues” and that it deeply regretted any inconvenience. 

In a terse response on Tuesday afternoon, the MFSA said supervisory and enforcement actions were carried out in confidentiality.

It added that enforcement actions were published on the MFSA website.

Questions sent to the FIAU on Monday remain unanswered at the time of publication.