a place to answer all the questions you might think of.

It’s fair to say that most of us can’t wait to see the back of 2020. It’s been a challenging time, but let’s resolve to focus on the positives.

When was the first time you used a QR code to pay for something? Our guess is, recently, and maybe you’ve started to notice the little squares all over the place. The humble QR has been around for 26 years, waiting in the wings for its moment – which certainly came with a bang in 2020.

Buying property or starting a business in Malta (or both) is hugely appealing for many reasons: low set up costs, attractive tax rates and incentives and a flexible, resourceful work force.

A lot can happen in a year. Since March the way we live and work has changed dramatically. Working from home is the new normal with many companies taking the decision to continue having employees work from home post-COVID. In fact, according to some reports, a quarter of British employees could end up with no commute required going forward. That’s huge. Remember when it was “working” from home, with a wink and air quotes?

Whether as an individual or a business, you will need a bank account in order to be in Malta long-term. For individuals who have a satisfactory credit rating and have not ever been declared bankrupt, opening an account is straightforward if time-consuming.

When you’re starting your own business or if you’re a freelancer or small business owner, it’s tempting to use your personal bank account rather than opening a separate one.

In a year that has really brought home the importance of connection, of family and friends, of kind gestures and looking out for one another, celebrating the Christmas spirit is perhaps a bit more meaningful this year. It’s a good year to take the focus away from money and spending and onto the other pleasures the season offers.

Malta is not only a beautiful place to live with a high quality work force and a balanced work-life culture, it is also very business-friendly – after all, it’s one of the fastest growing economies in Europe. It promotes professionalism and regulation and offers very attractive tax benefits.

The global pandemic made touching cash, POS machines - and each other in the exchange – hugely problematic almost overnight. Small businesses that didn’t yet take contactless payments had to move quickly to keep their businesses viable. Luckily, crisis breeds innovation and agile fintech companies moved swiftly to meet these new and urgent needs.

We launched our QR menu in April and it’s already a big deal, something we are pleased and excited about. QR menu provides a digitalised ordering and payment system that is customer-led and easily adapted to suit any business. We took some time to think back ‘that time we decided that a contactless menu was our next big step’.