Canada finally has its open banking lead. PwC Canada digital banking director Abraham Tachjian has been chosen to kickstart open banking efforts in the country, BetaKit has learned.
Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Digital, NEO, Open Banking, Open Finance
Research: ECB publishes report on payment habits and attitudes as part of digital euro project
ECB | Release | Mar 30, 2022
The European Central Bank (ECB) published today the findings of its commissioned research on citizens’ payment habits and their attitudes towards digital payments in order to gain a deeper understanding of user preferences as part of the digital euro project.
Based on the responses of focus groups and online communities across all euro area countries, the report shows a strong preference for payment methods with pan-European reach and universal acceptance in physical shops and online. Users favour payment solutions that are convenient, fast and easy to use. Participants valued the possibility of instant and contactless person-to-person payments, regardless of the platform or device. Focus group respondents also wished for a one-stop-solution that would incorporate all the current payment options into one system.
See: A European approach to DeFi regulation
Safety and security were a concern among respondents, who sought guarantees against fraud and hacking, as well as secure and reliable payment authentication methods. Biometric methods of payment verification, such as those involving iris scan technology, were widely supported by participants, while flexible and adjustable privacy settings were seen as desirable.
“We want the digital euro to add value for end users and merit their confidence,” says ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta, Chair of the High-Level Task Force on a digital euro.
“A digital euro could enhance European payments by providing a universally accepted and secure solution that facilitates contactless and instant payments.”
Continue to the original release --> here
Download the 128 page PDF 'Study on New Digital Payment Methods' --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Meridian CEO says Open banking is ‘an opportunity’ for credit unions
FP | | Mar 23, 2022
Meridian Credit Union Ltd. is looking at open banking as “an opportunity, not a problem,” says Jay-Ann Gilfoy, who took over as president and chief executive of Ontario’s largest credit union in January.
“We’re looking at it as: ‘How can this help us grow? How can this help us do the right things for our members?‘”
Gilfoy said in a recent interview with the Financial Post.
See: PwC’s Abraham Tachjian to be Canada’s open banking lead
I think we’re on a good path in terms of being able to address that as it relates to fintech partnerships and opportunities,” she added. The credit union system as a whole has certainly come from a cooperative framework … and then on top of that, we also share back-end resources — all of the technical things that help with making payments happen,” she said.
Settlement and clearing, for example, are done through credit union “centrals” that are cooperatively owned by credit unions in each province where they operate.
The big banks, by contrast, have legacy internal technology systems built up over decades and many more customers across the country.
“If you have a banking system, you’ve got millions and millions of customers on it. The risks of getting off that core banking system are really high,” said Gilfoy.
See: Ontario Credit Unions will be permitted to sell exempt market securities including 45-108-Crowdfunding
“Whereas credit unions have a variety of different core banking systems, but more modern, I think, in terms of design and ability.”
“We’re looking at our own technology, and our abilities to share data, protect data, make sure it’s safe from an information security perspective, but (also) we’re finding those potential partnership relationships that bring some kind of opportunity to our members, that maybe they would have had to go to a number of different places in the past to do so.”
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Why Apple Acquired An ‘Open Banking’ Fintech
Forbes | Ron Shevlin | Mar 27, 2022
The Apple-oids in Cupertino must eat this stuff up. Every time Apple makes an acquisition, the technology world—and increasingly now, the fintechaverse—goes into hyper speculation mode, trying to figure out why the company made the purchase and what it plans to do with the acquired firm.
See: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada publishes BNPL pilot study
What does Credit Kudos do?
via their Website: “Credit Kudos’ intelligent products enable businesses to leverage Open Banking to enhance affordability and risk assessments. Our predictive insights are built by combining transaction and loan outcome data. Our products help lenders streamline underwriting, improve accuracy in decision-making, and support customers after acquisition through our engagement tools.”
Why Apple Wants Credit Kudos
BNPL acquisitions have been occurring faster than Ben Affleck finds new girlfriends:
- Block, nee Square, acquired AfterPay for somewhere between $15 million and $29 million (the valuation was at the higher amount when the deal was announced, but Block’s stock price fell by ~50% by the time the deal closed).
See: UK Research: How consumers use savings apps
- PayPal purchased BNPL company Paidy in 2021 for $2.7 billion.
- Zip acquired New York-based Quadpay in 2020 for nearly $300 million, and is now looking to purchase Sezzle.
It would be a real coup for Apple to acquire a BNPL capability for just $150 million.
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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World’s First Decentralized Bank in The Metaverse
BeInCrypto | Nicole Buckler |Mar 21, 2022
JP Morgan and HSBC
have launched sites in the Metaverse. But they are traditional banks that come with all of the traditional bank problems.
And yet. There is a decentralized bank that has now entered the metaverse. This crypto-based model will take on these Goliaths, with “simple, dependable digital banking procedures.”
Meta Bank DeFi has announced it has entered the fray. The photorealistic metaverse crypto project says it is the world’s first decentralized 360 solution bank in the metaverse.
See:
Metaverse’s first major bank, JP Morgan, predicts US $1 trillion
Liquid Avatar Technologies Inc. Launches First-Ever Payment Card and Loyalty Program for the Metaverse
“The mission is to implement decentralized banking and to help users truly grasp the concepts of virtualization, by introducing them to the metaverse and putting the power in the hands of those who can determine their own terms financially.”
Meta Bank Defi says that its new crypto-based platform eliminates the middlemen from the equation.
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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PwC’s Abraham Tachjian to be Canada’s open banking lead
Betakit |
Canada finally has its open banking lead. PwC Canada digital banking director Abraham Tachjian has been chosen to kickstart open banking efforts in the country, BetaKit has learned.
Multiple sources familiar with the selection process confirmed to BetaKit under condition of anonymity that the federal government is expected to announce the appointment Tuesday.
The Globe and Mail also published a story today noting that the government is set to announce Tachjian as the lead this week.
Tachjian, as well as spokespeople for the Associate Minister of Finance Randy Boissonnault and the Department of Finance, were not immediately available for comment.
See:
State of Challenger Banking in Canada
Privacy Implications of an Open Banking System in Canada
Tachjian has operated as PwC Canada’s director of digital banking since February 2020. Prior to that, he was a founding member and head of operational risk at Mox, a Hong Kong digital bank owned by Standard Chartered.
Sources familiar with the process told BetaKit that PwC was hired to lead the second round of open banking consultations, noting that Tachjian was at the centre of that process.
“As a common law and civil law qualified lawyer, I bring a multidisciplinary approach which allows me to provide a unique point of view that bridges the gap between banking, technology and law,” Tachjian’s LinkedIn page reads.
Reactions to the decision from those BetaKit spoke to seemed more mixed. Some noted Tachjian’s strong performance during the consultations, while some preferred other names from the candidate shortlist. Most noted that the position would be difficult for anyone to balance the demands of government, incumbents, and FinTech disruptors. Many are happy that the search is over.
See:
Canada’s Library of Parliament Report: A Comparison of Open Banking Recommendations
Betakit podcast with Senator Deacon on Open Banking and Competition
“I’m glad it’s not a bank person, put it that way,” one person who participated in the open banking consultations told BetaKit.
The appointment comes more than three years after the federal government launched its Advisory Committee on Open Banking, and almost a year to the day since their report recommended a lead designing the “early phase of the [open banking] system” (the report was ultimately publicly released five months later in August). It is a process that has spanned two finance ministers: Bill Morneau and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Continue to the full article --> here
View the official FinCanada press release --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Portage Ventures closes 3rd Fintech Fund $788.5 million CAD
BetaKit |
Portage Ventures, the venture capital arm of investment firm Sagard, announced the sixth close of its Portage Ventures III LP. The VC firm said it has raised $788.5 million CAD ($616 million USD) to date, and claims the fund is now one of the largest early-stage FinTech-focused venture funds in the world.
With its latest close, Portage claimed that along with its Fund I and Fund II it now has $3.3 billion USD of assets under management as of December 31, 2021.
Commitments to the fund came from new and existing capital partners, including family offices, financial institutions, pension funds, and institutional investors worldwide.
New LPs investing in Portage III include HarbourVest Partners, Kensington Capital Partners and Meridian Credit Union. They join previous LPs in Portage III, such as Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), and Eldridge.
Portage also announced that it is opening investment in a Portage fund to individual Canadian accredited investors for the first time. Access is available exclusively through Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc.
See: Portag3 Ventures closes $320 million second fund focused on fintech investment
“We are constantly working with entrepreneurs and families who increasingly were interested in investing with us. We’ve created a vehicle for these investors and other qualified high net worth investors to participate via an access fund administered by Grayhawk,” CEO Adam Felesky told BetaKit.
This most recent close for the third fund took place on February 7, and Portage expects to hold the final close for Portage III in April 2022.
The VC said its geographic reach has steadily expanded in the United States and internationally since the firm’s founding in 2016. Its five largest portfolio investments (from its first two funds) by fair market value as of December 31 are Wealthsimple, Koho, Clark, Albert, and Alpaca, according to Portage.
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Metaverse’s first major bank, JP Morgan, predicts US $1 trillion
Fintech Magazine | Kate Birch | Feb 17, 2022
JP Morgan has become the first bank to establish a presence in the metaverse, as it predicts a market opportunity of US$1trn and eyes virtual real estateJP Morgan has become the first bank to enter the metaverse, opening a lounge in the popular blockchain-based world, Decentraland – one of the most popular metaverses. This marks the banking giant’s entry into the metaverse, as it eyes the potential financial gains.
See: 7 Ways the Metaverse is Changing Enterprises
The metaverse is a virtual world where people can interact, attend events, and explore, as digital avatars of themselves.
The bank’s Onyx lounge, the name of which references the bank’s suite of permissioned Ethereum-based services, offers institutions and businesses an opportunity to enter the metaverse.
Here, in the Onyx Lounge, located in Metaiuku, a virtual version of Tokyo’s Harajuku shopping district, a tiger roams the first floor, overlooked by a portrait of the bank’s boss Jamie Dimon, while on the second floor a person’s avatar can watch experts talk about the crypto market.
Metanomics – JP Morgan sees limitless opportunities
Along with the unveiling of the ‘Onyx Lounge’, the investment giant released a white paper outlining to clients the full market potential of the virtual space – describing it as “limitless”.
See: CEEK presents H&M’s metaverse concept store
According to JP Morgan’s report, the economics of the metaverse – or metanomics – offers opportunities in almost every area and poses a market opportunity of US$1 trillion in annual revenue.
So, what opportunities does the bank see? According to JP Morgan’s report, the metaverse offers opportunities to:
- Transact – every year, US$54bn is spent on virtual goods, almost double the amount spent buying music
- Socialise – approximately US$60bn messages are sent daily on Roblox
- Create – GDP for Second Life was around US$650m in 2021 with nearly US$80m US dollars paid to creators
- Own – NFTs currently have a market cap of US$41bn
- Experience – 200 strategic partnerships to date with The Sandbox, including Warner Music Group to launch a music-themed virtual world
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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