Start your own digital banking app in Chisinau and take on maib

By SendPay Business · · 3 min read

Start your own digital banking app in Chisinau and take on maib

Chisinau is one of the biggest money cities in Moldova. In Moldova, money from family abroad is part of everyday life. Most of it flows through maib and Moldindconbank. A brand built for Chisinau, its neighbourhoods, communities and small businesses, can win people the national giants treat as just another account number.

How Chisinau pays todayWho you'd be competing with in ChisinauWhat you can launch under your own brand

How Chisinau pays today

Chisinau uses the Moldovan leu, maib is the best-known bank, and many families rely on money sent home by relatives working abroad.

A brand made for Chisinau's families, IT workers or the Moldovan diaspora can make sending and receiving simpler.

Who you'd be competing with in Chisinau

The big banks, maib and Moldindconbank, are everywhere in Chisinau. The apps won people over by being simpler. Your edge is being local: your language, your community, your city's name on the card.

What you can launch under your own brand

An everyday account app with balances and a branded card, a money transfer app, a payment-link product for invoices, a marketplace that pays its sellers, or a membership platform. Each is a template: your name, your colours, your domain, your fees.

How it works, in a few clicks

Pick the template closest to your idea, type your platform name and preview every page before you pay.

  1. Pick a template.
  2. Name it and choose your colours. The site changes as you type.
  3. Preview the finished platform, page by page.
  4. Verify with a selfie and pay your invoice.
  5. Go live on your own domain within 24 hours and invite your first users.

You set the fees, you keep them

Charge 1%, 2.9% or nothing: it's your call. On every leu your users move, your platform earns the fee you set.

Permissions: the honest part

The accounts, cards and payments behind your platform are powered by licensed partners. Depending on what your platform does and who it serves, you may also need your own registration, and serving customers in Moldova can bring local rules from the National Bank of Moldova. We tell you in writing which permissions apply to your platform before you pay, and introduce specialists who handle them. We are not licensed advisers and don't guarantee outcomes.

Build it

Create your own financial platform.

Pick a template, name it, brand it, preview every page before you pay. Your brand, your users, your fees.

Build my platform →

Questions people ask

Can I really compete with maib in Chisinau?

Not on size on day one. But you can beat any big bank on focus: a platform built for one city, community or kind of customer, with a better experience and fairer fees.

Can I call it a bank?

In most countries, including Moldova, "bank" is a protected word you can only use with a banking licence. Call it an account, an app or a platform.

Is SendPay Business connected to maib?

No. We name them only to describe the market. SendPay Business is an independent technology company, not a bank.

Should I put Chisinau in my app's name?

It can help if you only plan to serve Chisinau, because people trust a local name. If you want to grow across Moldova later, pick a name that still works outside the city. The free name generator gives you ideas and opens your favourite straight in the builder.

Payment app name generator →
How much could a platform in Chisinau earn?

It depends on how many people in Chisinau use it, how much they move and the fee you set. Put your own numbers into the free calculator.

Platform earnings calculator →
Is there a guide for the whole of Moldova?

Yes, the Moldova guide covers the national picture.

Moldova guide →
Is there a step-by-step plan I can follow?

Yes. The free launch checklist takes you from picking your people and naming your app to setting fees, going live and winning your first ten customers. Tick each step off as you go.

Digital bank app launch checklist →
How do I start?

Pick a template, name it and preview every page before you pay. Your platform can be live on your own domain within 24 hours of confirmation.

Build my platform →

Read next

This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. SendPay Business is a technology company, not a bank, and does not take deposits; regulated services on the platforms are provided by licensed partners. PayPal, Patreon and Substack are named as reference points only and are not affiliated with SendPay Business.