Fintech group RS2 Holding has outlined ambitious plans to transform HSBC Malta into a pan-European digital bank under the revived Mid-Med Bank brand, marking a major step in its strategic shift toward full-scale banking operations across the continent.

RS2 had already confirmed its bid for HSBC Malta last month. But in a new interview with the Times of Malta, CEO Radi El Haj outlined for the first time how the acquisition would serve as the launchpad for a new kind of Maltese bank — one that competes across Germany, France, Spain, Italy and beyond.

The rebranded Mid-Med Bank would retain HSBC Malta’s current infrastructure and workforce, while leveraging RS2’s own payments platform to deliver tech-enabled banking services at scale.

“Our vision is to combine HSBC’s banking infrastructure with RS2’s digital payments platform to create a bank that can compete in Germany, Spain, France, Italy, and Southern Europe,” El Haj said. “We aim to onboard 500,000 SMEs and corporate clients within the first five years.”

Pan-European ambitions, Malta at the centre

The bid is being handled through RS2 Holding, the group’s Germany-based unit, not RS2 plc — its Malta-listed payments company — in order to give the new bank the structural flexibility needed to expand beyond Malta. RS2 plc will remain focused on global payments and will support the new Mid-Med Bank as a service provider.

El Haj said that Malta will remain the group’s operational hub, even as customer acquisition, compliance and marketing are managed in each target market. “Mid-Med Bank will be the only Maltese bank to expand beyond the island. This will introduce healthy competition to the local sector and deliver better outcomes for customers.”

The group has also applied to trademark the Mid-Med Bank brand — both in Malta and with the EU Intellectual Property Office — indicating the project may be further along than previously known.

Regulatory hurdles and local scepticism

While RS2 is not currently a licensed bank, it holds an e-money licence in Germany and is engaging with both the Malta Financial Services Authority and the European Central Bank to secure the necessary approvals. El Haj said discussions so far have been positive and signalled the company’s willingness to retain existing HSBC Malta management and staff to ensure continuity.

He also hit back at what he described as “deliberate misinformation” circulating locally in a bid to derail the deal.

“We are being fully transparent. We are working closely with the European Central Bank and Malta’s regulators, and we’ve made it clear that the current management, along with their regulatory, legal, and investment expertise, will be retained,” he said.

If approved, the deal could make RS2 the first Maltese-rooted bank with a serious European footprint — and bring the Mid-Med name back into mainstream banking after a 25-year absence.