Opening a bank account is one of the first real tests of a move to Malta, and one of the most frustrating. Newcomers wait for appointments, collect documents, answer questions about the source of their money and sometimes hear nothing for weeks. On 6 October 2026 Malta replaced the law that governs everyday payment accounts. The new rules do not make due diligence disappear, but they put clock times, notice periods and written reasons into places where customers used to have little to hold on to.
The instrument is Legal Notice 258 of 2026, the Credit Institutions and Financial Institutions (Payment Accounts) Regulations, 2026, published in the Government Gazette of that day. The Minister responsible for financial services made it under the Banking Act and the Financial Institutions Act, on the advice of the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). It transposes the EU Payment Accounts Directive 2014/92/EU and repeals the 2016 regulations that did the same job until now, S.L. 371.18.
Two dates matter. Parts V and VI come into force on 6 December 2026. Those are the parts with most of the new customer protections: the ten-day decision, the disclosure duties, the dormant account rules and the limits on changing terms. Regulation 1 names no separate date for the rest of the instrument.
Who the new rules cover
The regulations apply to payment accounts that let a consumer at least place funds, withdraw cash and send and receive payments, including credit transfers. A "consumer" is a natural person, and the definition includes someone acting in their own name for a business, trade or profession. A company account is outside the scope.
The term "payment service provider" is wide. It covers banks (credit institutions), electronic money institutions, payment institutions and a few others. That matters in Malta, where many residents run their daily money through an e-money or payment institution rather than a bank, and where the line between the two is not always obvious to the customer. For how those licences differ, the EMI licence explainer is a good starting point.
Here is the structural point most summaries miss. Regulation 1(6) splits the instrument:
- Parts I, II, VII, VIII and IX apply to all payment service providers, banks included.
- Parts III, IV, V and VI apply to payment service providers other than credit institutions.
For banks, regulation 44 says they must comply, as a minimum, with requirements on fee comparability, switching and access to payment accounts "as stipulated in the Rules", meaning the conduct of business rules the MFSA issues under the Banking Act. So the detailed day-to-day obligations for banks now sit in MFSA rules rather than in the Legal Notice itself, while the e-money and payment institutions get them written directly into law.
What changed compared with the 2016 regulations
Under the repealed S.L. 371.18, the core bank duties were spelled out in the regulations. Regulation 18 required credit institutions with five or more branches in Malta to offer a payment account with basic features. Regulation 19 gave consumers legally resident in Malta or another Member State the right to open one, "irrespective of the consumer's place of residence", and barred refusals based on employment status, income, credit history or personal bankruptcy. Regulation 21 set a ten business day limit for opening or refusing the account, and regulation 23 required the bank to give the specific reason for a refusal in writing.
None of those bank-specific paragraphs is reproduced in L.N. 258. What the new text keeps is the framework: regulation 1(5) states that the regulations "define a framework for the rules and conditions according to which Malta is required to guarantee a right for consumers to open and use payment accounts with basic features in Malta". The MFSA must prevent distortions of competition in how banks provide access (regulation 42), raise public awareness of basic accounts, "particularly reaching out to unbanked, vulnerable and mobile consumers" (regulation 43), and report to the European Commission on how many basic accounts are opened, closed and refused (regulation 55).
The definition of who counts as legally resident in Malta or in another Member State survives in regulation 2: anyone with a right to reside under EU or national law, expressly including consumers with no fixed address and asylum seekers. For a newly arrived EU citizen, or a third-country national holding a residence permit, that is the gateway to the basic account right.
Regulation 58 adds a saving: any payment account opened under the 2016 regulations stays in force and is now governed by the new regulations and the MFSA rules. Nobody needs to reopen anything.
The new protections from 6 December 2026
Parts V and VI are where the practical change sits for customers of e-money and payment institutions.
A decision within ten business days
Regulation 25 requires the provider to open or refuse to open a payment account without undue delay, and in any case within ten business days of the recorded receipt of the completed application. In the 2016 regulations the ten-day limit was written for basic accounts at banks. Part V now applies the same limit to every payment account application at a non-bank provider covered by Part V.
The trigger is a "completed application". Missing documents stop the clock, so the practical advice is unchanged: send everything at once and keep proof of when you sent it.
What the provider must publish
Three disclosure duties make the process visible before you apply:
- Account information (regulation 17): the specific features of the account, any minimum balance and the charge for falling below it, the treatment of dormant accounts, the closure procedure and any other fees. The provider must also make clear that buying extra services is not compulsory to get the account.
- Average processing times (regulation 18): the average number of days to generate an operational account number, issue a debit card, switch on internet banking and grant a requested overdraft, counted from the day the customer has provided all relevant information.
- A customer charter (regulation 19): the opening process with timelines, the list of documents and data expected, all fees for opening, operating, maintaining and closing the account, whether there is an internal appeal against a refusal and how to use it, and any remedy under Maltese law for a third-party review of a refusal.
For anyone comparing providers before a move, the customer charter and the average processing times are the two documents worth reading first.
Overdrafts stay optional
Regulations 20 to 22 require plain-language information on overdrafts: that an overdraft is borrowing, the risks of overdrawing without an arrangement, and how using an overdraft can affect eligibility for other credit. Regulation 26 confirms that access to the account cannot be made conditional on taking an overdraft. The new consumer credit rules that apply from 20 November 2026 are covered in the consumer credit article, and the separate regime for home loans in the mortgage credit article.
Errors and outages
Regulation 23 requires a provider that makes an erroneous transaction to reverse it immediately at no cost, then explain what went wrong. Regulation 24 requires advance notice of planned downtime of the app or website, and same-day notice of unplanned downtime, through social media and other suitable channels.
Dormant accounts: the rule expats should know
Many people who leave Malta keep a local account "just in case" and stop using it. The new rules decide what happens next.
Under regulation 27, a provider may classify an account as dormant after 24 consecutive months without a transaction. Payments generated from other sources, such as card fees, dividends or interest from other products, do not count as activity that keeps the account alive.
Before that happens, regulation 28 requires written notice on a durable medium at least 30 calendar days in advance. The notice must name the account and the intended date, set out the fees and implications, explain how to prevent dormancy and how to reactivate, and describe the termination process that may follow, including what happens to the remaining balance.
Fees on a dormant account are limited in two ways. Regulation 29 provides that the account must never end up in debit because of a fee. Regulation 32 allows the provider to keep debiting the fee until the balance is exhausted. Regulation 30 lets the provider charge the fee to another, active account of the same customer, and regulation 31 requires a fair, market-rate exchange rate if that account is in a different currency.
The practical lesson is simple: one transaction a year on an account you want to keep avoids the whole process, and an up-to-date address with the provider ensures the 30-day warning actually reaches you.
Closing, blocking and changing the terms
Regulation 33 is the one many customers will be glad to read. Unless a law prohibits it, a provider that intends to close or block an account must tell the customer within a reasonable time beforehand, give the reason, and say what the customer can do to reverse the decision. Anti-money laundering law can still override this, and regulation 1(8) states that all opening and use of basic accounts remains subject to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing obligations.
On terms and conditions, regulation 34 declares two kinds of clauses unfair and unlawful: clauses that let the provider change the contract unilaterally for reasons not specifically allowed in it, and clauses that let it change any characteristic of the account on the same basis. Where a proposed change is not covered by a valid variation clause, the customer may refuse it (regulation 37). A customer who refuses a key or adverse change and closes the account within the notice period pays no termination fee and gets a pro rata refund of any meaningful annual fee already paid (regulation 38). Substantial or complex changes require a written summary of the key features (regulation 40).
Fees you can compare
Part II, which applies to all providers, builds the fee comparison system. Once the EU standardised terminology applies, the MFSA must publish a list of 10 to 20 of the most representative fee-bearing services, in Maltese and English, and provide a free comparison website that treats providers equally and states when it was last updated (regulations 3 to 6). Private comparison sites may operate too, but must notify the MFSA and meet the same quality criteria.
For non-bank providers, Part III adds the customer-facing documents:
- a Fee Information Document before the contract (regulation 9 and Schedule 1), a short stand-alone document in English, and in Maltese or another agreed language on request;
- a glossary of the standardised terms (regulation 8);
- a free Statement of Fees at least once a year (regulation 11 and Schedule 2), showing every fee, the number of times each service was used, overdraft and credit interest, and the total;
- clear information on whether an account sold in a package can be bought on its own (regulation 14).
Switching inside Malta, and leaving for another EU country
Part IV requires non-bank providers to offer a switching service between accounts in the same currency. Schedule 3 sets the timetable: the new provider asks the old one to act within two business days of the customer's authorisation, the old provider sends the standing order and direct debit information within five business days, and the new provider sets everything up within five business days of receiving it. The information is free, other switching fees must be reasonable and cost-based, and a provider that causes a financial loss by not complying must reimburse it in full.
Regulation 16 matters for people moving on from Malta. A customer who tells a Maltese provider that they intend to open an account in another Member State can ask for a free list of active standing orders and direct debits, a transfer of the remaining balance and closure of the account. Unless agreed otherwise, the provider completes these steps at least six business days after receiving the request, on the date the customer specifies, provided there are no outstanding obligations.
Complaints and enforcement
Regulation 56 requires every provider to run an internal complaints procedure, free of charge, and to give a final response within 15 days. If the customer does not accept the outcome, the provider must point them to the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services. The MFSA can issue directives and impose administrative penalties of up to €150,000 per breach, with publication of the provider's name, the provision breached and the penalty (regulations 49 to 53). Appeals go to the Financial Services Tribunal.
A practical checklist for newcomers
The rules change how the process feels, not what a provider needs to know about you. Before applying:
- Read the provider's customer charter and its published average processing times; from 6 December 2026 non-bank providers must publish both.
- Gather the documents on the charter's list and submit a complete application, keeping a record of the date.
- If you are refused, ask for the reason and use the provider's internal review, then the Arbiter if needed.
- Ask for the Fee Information Document and compare it with at least one other provider.
- If you plan to leave Malta, keep the account active or close it properly through the regulation 16 route rather than letting it drift into dormancy.
For a wider view of what banking in Malta is like for residents and company owners, the banking guide covers the practical side, and the 2026 moving checklist puts the account in the order of everything else a move involves. The full legal text of L.N. 258 of 2026 is on legislation.mt.
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