Monthly business-to-business transactions in Malta reached €296 million by the start of September, setting a new national record and surpassing those in Greece by more than double.
As of September 4, the total value of inter-business transactions in Malta was equal to those in Portugal and more than double the €142 million seen in Greece – a country with almost 20 times the population of Malta.
Comparisons with some of Europe’s largest economies also suggest a comparatively heavy reliance on Revolut by Maltese businesses, which transferred almost a third of those in France (€860 million) and around 45% of businesses in The Netherlands (€660 million).
Monthly business-to-business transaction volumes reached €664 million in Italy, €557 million in Spain and €345 million in Romania.
Meanwhile, the number of Maltese businesses using the platform increased by five times over the last year, while the number of retail customers tripled since January, the company said.
Revolut head of growth for Southern Europe, Ignacio Zunzunegui said that while the company had seen “significant growth” in the number of business customers, Malta still had “huge opportunity to grow”.
He added the company had also introduced accounting service Revolut Billpay in Malta “to help Maltese companies streamline their finances”.
The news comes weeks after the company said the number of business accounts had increased by more than 170% by July and at a quicker rate than Malta’s southern European neighbours.
When asked what accounted for the strong business performance, sources told Times of Malta that payment methods like phone number or QR code were “probably” the main reasons businesses were attracted to the platform.
“I see it as a positive though,” one banking source said, stressing it gave “local banks an opportunity to polish up and improve”.
However, they said they doubted many businesses would abandon mainstream local banks entirely, instead thinking it likely businesses would turn to Revolut for certain services while keeping existing accounts open.
Announcing the recent figures, Revolut reported that its global revenue had reached €450 million.
Revolut was launched in the UK in 2015 and, by the end of June this year, had attracted 45 million customers worldwide and expanded to 38 countries, according to the company’s annual report for 2023.
The company offers transactions in a range of currencies, physical and virtual payment cards, user-to-user payments and cryptocurrency trading, among other services.
It now also offers personal loans in Poland, Lithuania, Ireland, Romania and Spain and, while it has not committed to a timeline on offering such loans in Malta, earlier this year said it was “on our road map”.