Monzo founder Tom Blomfield is departing the U.K. challenger bank entirely at the end of the month, staff were informed earlier today.
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
Has fintech made banking better?
DUCA Impact Lab | Keith Taylor | Feb 18, 2021
Fintech is responsible for a long list of innovations. Helping people make better financial decisions could be next.
Building banking that is not just different, but better, is a common refrain when speaking with fintech entrepreneurs. It is natural to wonder then, what roles are fintech companies playing now in building ‘better banking’, and more importantly, what opportunities are there to better deliver on this promise?
The DUCA Impact Lab was established by DUCA Financial Services Credit Union to explore these types of questions, and to ultimately work with its partners to build and test models of banking that benefit all. Each year, the DUCA Impact Lab, in partnership with Angus Reid Group, examines national perspectives on fair banking in Canada. The study surveys a national pool of banking consumers on their perceptions of fairness in their banking experiences. It evaluates a number of fair banking factors such as transparency, credibility, pricing, as well as access to products and services. It then compares these consumer perspectives with responses from bank employees working in a sales or lending capacity at different types of lending institutions, including fintech’s.
See: State of Fair Banking 2020
Reflecting on the study results for 2020 reveals some key considerations for fintech companies as they continue to innovate and build on their presence in the financial services marketplace. For example:
More people need access to quality advice.
The majority of consumers interact with a financial advisor once per year, or less. In fact, 29% say they have never met with one. Even for those that do meet with an advisor, chances are they either don’t trust, or are indifferent to the advice they get (75% of consumers combined). This is particularly troublesome, given that the right advice is desperately needed - nearly 45% of people with debt say they have neither a budget, nor specific financial goals. Lenders surveyed who work in fintech take an overly ‘sales first’ view of their companies compared with peers, and are significantly less likely to view the primary focus of their company as helping people (21%), when compared to 35% at banks, and 48% at credit unions. Perhaps there’s an opportunity to do both.
Trust is a short-term opportunity, but long-term potential risk for fintech’s.
Nearly as many Canadians distrust financial institutions as trust them, with a winnable 46% of consumers who are somewhere in the middle. Also consider that only 22% of big bank customers think they are getting a good deal on their financial service products; this should translate into opportunities for new entrants and alternatives to the big banks. The level of trust consumers have in fintech companies is generally similar to other lending options to start, but borrower experience becomes more negative post fulfillment. For example, fintech customers are more than twice as likely to respond that their debt has impacted their ability to afford basic health care services such as prescription drugs. Mitigating these risks has benefits for everyone.
See: How Banks, Fintechs, and Customers Win Together
The Fintech sector has produced some amazing innovations, improving the way financial institutions are able to offer a range of services, facilitate transactions and understand customer needs. Extending this innovative thinking to focus on consumer experiences and well being is a natural fit.
About the author:
Keith Taylor is the Executive Director of the DUCA Impact Lab at DUCA Financial Services Credit Union, an innovation hub focused on building banking that benefits all. He works with a range of collaborators such as fintech’s, community organizations, academics and others to build and test solutions to inequity in the banking system.
This article appears as a featured article in NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 3). Click to read the latest thought leadership, insights and trends about Fintech in Canada:
Checkout NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 3, Dec 2020) --> 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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Public and Private Money Can Coexist in the Digital Age
IMF Blog | Tobias Adrian and Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli | Feb 18, 2021
We value innovation and diversity—including in money. In the same day, we might pay by swiping a card, waving a phone, or clicking a mouse. Or we might hand over notes and coins, though in many countries increasingly less often.
Today’s world is characterized by a dual monetary system, involving privately-issued money—by banks of all types, telecom companies, or specialized payment providers—built upon a foundation of publicly-issued money—by central banks. While not perfect, this system offers significant advantages, including: innovation and product diversity, mostly provided by the private sector, and stability and efficiency, ensured by the public sector.
See: Is Digital Money (Legally) Really Money?
These objectives—innovation and diversity on the one hand, and stability and efficiency on the other—are related. More of one usually means less of the other. A tradeoff exists, and countries—central banks especially—have to navigate it. How much of the private sector to rely upon, versus how much to innovate themselves? Much depends on preferences, available technology, and the efficiency of regulation.
So it is natural, when a new technology emerges, to ask how today’s dual monetary system will evolve. If digitalized cash—called central bank digital currency—does emerge, will it displace privately-issued money, or allow it to flourish? The first is always possible, by way of more stringent regulation. We argue that the second remains possible, by extending the logic of today’s dual monetary system. Importantly, central banks should not face a choice between either offering central bank digital currency, or encouraging the private sector to provide its own digital variant. The two can coincide and complement each other, for example, to the extent central banks make certain design choices and refresh their regulatory frameworks.
Public-private coexistence
It may be puzzling to consider that privately- and publicly-issued monies have coexisted throughout history. Why hasn’t the more innovative, convenient, user-friendly, and adaptable private money taken over entirely?
See: Right to anonymous payments
The answer lies in a fundamental symbiotic relationship: the option to redeem private money into perfectly safe and liquid public money, be it notes and coins, or central bank reserves held by selected banks.
The private monies that can be redeemed at a fixed face value into central bank currency become a stable store of value. Ten dollars in a bank account can be exchanged into a ten-dollar bill accepted as legal tender to settle debts. The example may seem obvious, but it hides complex underpinnings: sound regulation and supervision, government backstops such as deposit insurance and lender last resort, as well as partial or full backing in central bank reserves.
Moreover, privately-issued money becomes an efficient means of payment to the extent it can be redeemed into central bank currency. Anne’s 10 dollars in Bank A can be transferred to Bob’s Bank B because they are redeemed into central bank currency in between—an asset both banks trust, hold, and can exchange. As a result, this privately-issued money becomes interoperable. And so it spurs competition—since Anne and Bob can hold money in different banks and still pay each other—and thus innovation and diversity of actual forms of money.
See: COVID-19: Making the case for robust digital financial infrastructure
In short, the option of redemption into central bank currency is essential for stability, interoperability, innovation, and diversity of privately-issued money, be it a bank account or other. A system with just private money would be far too risky. And one with just central bank currency could miss out on important innovations. Each form of money builds on the other to deliver today’s dual money system—a balance that has served us well.
Central bank currency in the digital age will face pressures
And tomorrow, as we step squarely into the digital age, what will become of this system? Will the digital currencies issued by central banks be so enticing that they overshadow privately-issued money? Or will they still allow for private sector innovation? Much depends on each central bank’s ability and willingness to consistently and significantly innovate. Keeping pace with technological change, rapidly evolving user needs, and private sector innovation is no easy feat.
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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Overview of how Canada is modernizing its core payments infrastructure
Asset Servicing Times | Feb 3, 2021
With an evolving payments landscape, Canada is marching ahead to modernise its core payments infrastructure with a vision to build a modern payments system that is fast, flexible, secure and promotes innovation
Developments in technology, evolving customer behaviour and new market dynamics are all catalysts for change in the payments space. Recent research has suggested that banks are committed to investing in areas such as digitising customer journeys, introducing machine learning, and improving technological and operational resilience, and this hasn’t been swayed by the pandemic.
See: Bank of Canada Speech: Money and Payments in the Digital Age
Real-time payments are becoming increasingly popular as they allow participants to make and receive instant payments, providing convenience, speed, and faster availability of funds. Payments Canada recently selected Mastercard’s Vocalink as the clearing and settlement solution provider for the country’s new real-time payments system, the Real-Time Rail (RTR).
“Ultimately, Canadians are seeking choice and convenience. Technology, payments innovation, and shifts in the ways that Canadians make payments are all contributing to our developing payments landscape,” says Ryan Grundy, lead, industry relations, Payments Canada.
Experts say Canada continues to hold a strong position among institutional investors on the world stage, in keeping with the strength of its financial markets and ‘big six’ banks — the National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank, the Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Scotiabank, and Toronto Dominion Bank.
See: Bank of Canada partners with the Bank for International Settlements to launch innovation centre
Canada’s financial sector features robust and mature markets, stability and transparency, proven infrastructure, efficient settlement mechanisms and a well evolved regulatory framework – along with a focus on controlled innovation. In line with the consolidated nature of Canada’s financial sector, the payments landscape also focuses on the major bank-driven players.
“In Canada, we see a synthesis of domestic innovation combined with global connectivity, with local players deploying Canadian solutions where they make sense according to Canada’s financial markets and infrastructure, while also driving connectivity or access to global platforms where either scale and accessibility make them the right direction — or, particularly in the retail space, where client demands and appetite for global solutions fits,” explains Lloyd Sebastian, vice president, global financial institutions, at CIBC Mellon.
For example, Interac is a payment network jointly owned by the consortium of banks, which links the banks along with other financial institutions, retailers and others to enable more seamless electronic financial transactions. With Canadian consumers concentrated on a small group of big six players who offer integrated Interac services, that is likely to continue to shape consumer use.
Marching ahead
In line with efficiency and convenience priorities in Canada, Payments Canada is marching ahead with its journey to modernise the country’s core payments infrastructure. “Its vision is to build a modern payments system that is fast, flexible, secure and promotes innovation,” says Sebastian.
See: How will Canada reinvent its payments framework for a post-pandemic digital reality?
As part of these developments, Payments Canada has selected Mastercard’s Vocalink as the clearing and settlement solution provider for the country’s new real-time payments system, the RTR. Expected to launch in 2022, RTR will support payment information travelling with payments and act as a platform for innovation, enabling the introduction of new payment products and experiences.
While RTR is operated by Payments Canada, it is underpinned by the ISO 20022 data standard, and regulated by the Bank of Canada. Canada’s new real-time payments system will consist of two components including a clearing and settlement component provided by Mastercard; and an exchange component.
As well as the upcoming launch of the RTR system in 2021, Lynx, a new high-value payments system to replace the Large Value Transfer System is set to launch this year.
“Introducing Lynx is a fundamental part of Payments Canada’s modernisation program that will transform the country’s payments ecosystem. Lynx will replace Canada’s current Large Value Payments System. The Lynx system will be a world-class, high-value payments system built in compliance with Canadian and international risk standards and will support the global ISO 20022 messaging standard,” says Payments Canada’s Grundy.
Lack of data and transparency within payment messages is a major challenge in Canada’s payment space and this creates a number of inefficiencies for businesses of all sizes. This includes labour-intensive payments reconciliation, limited predictability of cash inflows and outflows, difficulty tracking cross-border payments, and continued reliance on manual back-end processes.
See: Right to anonymous payments
As Lynx and RTR will be underpinned by the ISO 20022 messaging standard, they should be able to support businesses in overcoming these challenges.
“The standard enables the transfer of rich data with payments, a change that has the potential to improve automation and efficiency, reducing many pain points for Canadian businesses,” explains Grundy.
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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KABN North America Announces Leading Executives to its Industry Advisory Committee
KABN | Cara Buckspan | Feb 9, 2021
IAC members will support the Company's business, awareness and growth strategies.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 9, 2021 / KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. (CSE:KABN)(OTC PINK:TRWRF)(FRA:4T51) (the "Company", "KABN North America" or "KABN NA") (www.kabnsystemsna.com), a North American Fintech solutions company specializing in empowering individuals to manage, control and generate value from their biometrically-verified Self Sovereign Identity ("SSI") through its Liquid Avatar (www.liquidavatar.com) platform, is pleased to welcome a group of leading business executives in the formation of its inaugural Industry Advisory Committee ("IAC") which will support and advise KABN NA's management team with its growth and business initiatives, industry awareness and strategic introductions.
See: KABN to Release Liquid Avatar in App Stores Feb 18 to Further Progress Self Sovereign Identity
With Digital Identity impacting almost every sector and potentially 100% of the addressable online market, the timing was right for KABN NA to bring together an outstanding group of executives with start-up, industry, and public market experience to support the Company.
"We are excited and honored to be able to work with such a talented, experienced and diverse group of executives who believe in Liquid Avatar and the value of digital identity," said Ben Kessler, Senior Advisor and Chair of KABN North America's Industry Advisory Committee. "As a group, our mandate will be to support the Company and its efforts while providing industry advice to help accelerate its growth."
The 2021 KABN North America Inaugural Industry Advisory Committee members include:
Sheldon Inwentash, B.Comm., CA., CPA., LL.D
Sheldon is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of ThreeD Capital Inc. (CSE:IDK) and has more than 30 years of investing experience. He co-founded Visible Genetics, the first commercial pharmacogenomics company, in 1994 and exited in 2001 to Bayer. Through two decades of leading Pinetree Capital, Mr. Inwentash has created significant shareholder value through early investments in Queenston Mining (acquired by Osisko Mining Corp. for $550-million), Aurelian Resources (acquired by Kinross for $1.2-billion) and Gold Eagle Mines (acquired by Goldcorp for $1.5-billion) to name a few.
Sheldon obtained his B.Comm from the University of Toronto and is a Chartered Professional Accountant. In 2007, he was an Ontario finalist for the Ernst & Young entrepreneur of the year award. In 2012, Sheldon received an honorary degree, doctor of laws (LL.D) from the University of Toronto for his valuable leadership as an entrepreneur, his philanthropy, and inspirational commitment to making a difference in the lives of children, youth and their families.
Rob Anson
Rob Anson has served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board at Loop Insights Inc. (CSE:MTRX) since January 2018. Rob has also served as CEO and Founder of Fobisuite Technologies Inc., a private British Columbia technology company, since October 2017. Previously he was Founder and CEO of One Team Media, a Private Vancouver-based media company with digital and TV production assets.
Neil Stiles
Before moving to the US in 2008, Neil was a Board Director of Reed Business Information (RBI), one of the world's largest magazine publishers headquartered in the UK. He was also CEO of eMedia, an email marketing business with divisional responsibilities including a range of publications and events in multiple markets.
Neil also led sales across the whole of RBI, headed up the internal pricing consultancy and was also instrumental in developing RBI's strategy transitioning from magazines into data which required him to relocate to Los Angeles, California.
See: NCFA and KABN Systems North America enter multi-year exclusive partnership to promote Digital Identity in Canada
Neil took over the Entertainment division of RBI USA which included Variety Magazine, where he was CEO and Publisher. At Variety, Neil was instrumental in the development of a wider business strategy to take the company into conferences, higher price data and syndication.
Neil also served on the board of LA's Best after school program for schools within Los Angeles and was a Director of BritWeek. He also was on the board of BAFTA and subsequently served a term as Chairman.
After Neil orchestrated the sale of Variety, and other assets for Reed Elsevier, he retired to the Fort Lauderdale area.
Neil currently consults with a wide range of companies with focus on pricing and developing viable online business models. Neil is also on the advisory boards of EIS, 2020 Capital and three other start-ups.
For fun he owns a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu School and competes on a regular basis.
Alen Paul Silverrstieen
Alen Paul is a global serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience and is currently CEO of Imagine AR (CSE:IP). He recently founded Recruitment USA/India software firms leveraging Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to optimize job candidate sourcing. Alen Paul has also represented one of the leading Indian Post-Production Studios and contracted over 60 Hollywood movies in the past 5 years alone. Alen Paul is known as one of the pioneers of North American prepaid communications and led his company, GTS, public on the NASDAQ within 3 years while executing license deals with MLB, Marvel, NHL, Led Zeppelin, and many others.
See: KABN North America and Imagine AR Bring Augmented Reality to Liquid Avatar’s Verified Self Sovereign Identity Users
Nicole Rodrigues
Nicole Rodrigues is the CEO and Founder of NRPR Group and the Young Dreamers Foundation. She's an award-winning, well-rounded public relations and marketing pro. Her extensive knowledge in bridging the gap between the technology and various consumer industries makes her extremely valuable to her team and clients. She has more than 20 years of experience in PR, social media and digital marketing. Clients that have benefited from her counsel and skill include Heal, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Dialpad, Dolby, Yahoo!, MobiTV, Sony Playstation, Plantronics, Hulu, YouTube, M-GO, LA Comic Con, Demand Media (now Leaf Group), and other dominant companies. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations from San Jose State University and is an Executive MBA Candidate at UCLA Anderson School of Management - class of 2022.
Ruth McCartney
Ruth is a music industry veteran, communications expert and brand strategist with a strong marketing and entrepreneurial background. She's consulted and produced for Fortune 100, corporate, high-tech, non-profit & entertainment companies. She is also a public speaker and early Bitcoin adopter.
As CEO of McCartney Multimedia, Inc, Ruth has developed working relationships with industry leaders including Capitol Records, MGM/ Mirage, Lexus, Warner Bros. & T-Mobile. Her work has ranged from new media strategies and technology consulting, to development of database management solutions and marketing programs. Currently, her Hootsuite-Certified team is handling social media content creation, strategy, deployment and reporting for 36 worldwide city destinations in 7 languages. In addition, Ruth has also served as advisor to projects for non-profit and higher education organizations including the Farrah Fawcett Foundation, The Clinton Foundation & the Linda McCartney Centre for Cancer Research. The company also handles social strategy and marketing/digital PR for clients including creating custom marketing and sales funnels using their technology McCartneyMessenger.com to target & reach people via IM and Facebook and respond in real time.
Ruth's brainchild is the online Customer / Fan acquisition and retention, tool iFanz® iFanz.com® whose technology has provided online data mgmt., eCRM, & email broadcasting & compliance to LeAnn Rimes, Estate of Tupac Shakur, Roseanne Barr, John Cleese, Chevrolet, Paula Abdul, Edgar Winter, Texas Instruments and more. With 6.4 million members, it's amongst the largest privately held email mgmt. systems in the USA.
See: KABN North America and Liquid Avatar Unveils New Challenger Banking Program for Verified Self Sovereign Identity Users
Formerly, Ruth was a singer/songwriter & recording artist on BMG/Jupiter Records and has headlined tours in Russia, Lithuania, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan & Siberia. Specialties: Branding, social media, eMarketing, digital distribution, web development, eCRM, block chain solutions.
Craig Asano
Craig is the CEO and founder of NCFA, National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada. With 15+ years of experience, he is a proven marketing strategist, software technologist and start-up entrepreneur in technology, finance, and real estate sectors. Craig is a leader, community builder, advocate and development professional of alternative finance and private capital markets, fintech, blockchain, AI, interactive web, data intelligence, special projects, and new ventures.
Steven Glaser
Steven is a financial service executive with a diverse background in corporate finance, communications, and governance for both private and public companies. He is currently Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Director at Pool Safe Inc. (TSXV:POOL), a company that designs, develops and distributes globally a product known as the "PoolSafe". In addition to his role at Pool Safe, Steven also sits on the Board of Canadian listed public companies. From 2008 through 2017, Steven worked in the corporate finance and investment banking arena focused on assisting late stage private and early stage public companies with strategic planning and capital raising. Prior to that, he spent seven years as Vice President Corporate Affairs of Azure Dynamics Corporation. He was responsible for the company's corporate governance, domestic and international stock exchange listings, as well as the build-out of the company's Investor Relations division. Steven holds a Bachelor of Administrative Studies degree as well as an M.B.A. in finance.
Lauren Linton
Lauren is an Executive Director of CIX Canadian Innovation Exchange, the longest-running Canadian venture conference, which curates and showcases Canada's most innovative early and growth stage tech startups to North American investors and corporates. Previously, Lauren was an executive with the CVCA- Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, setting the strategic direction and developing the majority of the revenue programs for the association and private capital industry. She has served on boards with interests in healthcare, technology and business services and has chaired many fundraising events. Lauren holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Marketing and Finance from the DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University. Lauren is also a SheEO Activator.
See: Survey Until Feb 26: Ontario Seeks Input from Individuals and Businesses to Help Shape Digital ID Program
Mark Pearlman
Mark is a results-driven senior operating executive with over 20+ years' experience and success in driving corporate growth within the technology and mass retail industries. His experience and expertise is in business transformation, M&A, corporate strategy, corporate planning and sales operations. Government and public appointments at Federal and Provincial levels.
Dominic Vogel
Dominic has an established track record as a cyber security leader. He has a wide-range of experience overseeing numerous projects including security strategy development, policy development, endpoint security, and threat management in a multitude of industries including financial services, logistics, transportation, government, telecommunications, and critical infrastructure. Dominic actively participates in the local Vancouver security community and is a regular cyber security expert for Global BC (TV), CKNW (radio), News1130 (radio), and the Vancouver Sun (newspaper).
Ben Kessler - Chair
As Chair of KABN NA's Industry Advisory Committee, Ben has over 20 years of account management, business development, marketing, and partnership experience in the financial services sector. Mr. Kessler is currently a Senior Advisor to KABN North America.
See: NCFA and KABN Systems North America enter multi-year exclusive partnership to promote Digital Identity in Canada
Prior to that, he was the Managing Director, Payments Solution Group - Banc of California and also served as Vice President, Global Account Management at Earthport North America. Ben also held senior roles at Mastercard Worldwide from 2006 to 2011. Ben has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandeis University and a Master of Business Administration from the New York University Stern School of Management.
Having the opportunity to consult and engage with such a diverse group of industry leaders through the Industry Advisory Committee is amazing as it will help us garner different views of our business, markets and our respective opportunities," said David Lucatch, CEO KABN North America.
Launching in the Apple Store and Google Play on February 18, 2021, Liquid Avatar, available at no cost to consumers, makes it easy for individuals to start and maintain the process of managing their SSI/digital identity while giving users the ability to share it with their friends, family, colleagues, and others easily, safely, and cryptographically secure through biometrically enabled Self Sovereign Identity tools and services.
View the original 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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KABN North America Partners with Indicio to Build Liquid Avatar’s Verifiable Credential Ecosystem (LAVCE)
KABN | Cara Buckspan | Feb 3, 2021
Platform will empower consumers, governments, and business to manage, issue and verify digital identity and personal data.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / February 3, 2021 / KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. (CSE:KABN) (OTC:TRWRF) (FRA:4T51) (the "Company", "KABN North America" or "KABN NA") (www.kabnsystemsna.com), a North American Fintech solutions company specializing in empowering individuals to manage, control and generate value from their biometrically-verified Self Sovereign Identity ("SSI") through its Liquid Avatar (www.liquidavatar.com) platform, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Delaware based PBC (Public Benefit Corporation), Indicio (https://indicio.tech/), a professional services firm specializing in decentralized identity architecture, engineering, and consultancy. Together, the team will build and launch the Liquid Avatar Verifiable Credentials Ecosystem ("LAVCE"), to support and enable online identity assurance which includes a digital credentials wallet and platform for issuers, verifiers, and individuals to support the issuance, verification, and management of verifiable credentials for digital identity.
The Company believes that digital identity is addressable to 100% of the online market. This solution is one of the first global platforms to support governments, healthcare, workplaces, hospitality and other businesses and organizations as they begin to issue digital credentials and to empower users, at no cost, to manage and take full control over storage and use of these credentials, their digital identity, and personal data.
Using the LAVCE, individuals, or "holders" will be provided with a digital wallet that will be able to, within Liquid Avatar, support a wide range of verifiable identity and other digital credentials based on the Trust over IP (www.trustoverip.org) open-source governance and technology stacks, to which KABN is a steering committee member, and industry standard data models.
See: Survey Until Feb 26: Ontario Seeks Input from Individuals and Businesses to Help Shape Digital ID Program
Together, with the Liquid Avatar app and its high-quality digital image icons that can represent various facets of a user's personality, the system will usher in new tools and services to create verifiable digital identities allowing for new and innovative ways for users to create a holistic profile of themselves that they manage and control, through self-defined personas. KABN North America will pay for the build and operate the LAVCE and the new verifiable identity credentials program creating an open-source solution to drive industry adoption and support standards that everyone can build to. This program is expected to ultimately replace the Company's current KABN ID solution.
"With over 5 Billion people online and about 400 million people in the US and Canada the world continues to get smaller through increased digital presence and opportunities. Providing individuals with a no-cost service that allows them to prove who they are and verify, manage, control and generate value from their digital identity has the potential to create significant consumer and commercial opportunities," said David Lucatch, CEO KABN North America.
"The creation of the LAVCE and our new digital identity credentials align with our goal to make Liquid Avatar engaging and simple to use as governments and industry continue to move swiftly towards adopting increased levels of security, regulation and compliance, enabling consumers to control their identity and data usage. This program also supports our industry efforts with the Trust over IP Foundation, Lumedic Exchange and other company efforts."
Liquid Avatar will be releasing its live, open beta app globally in Google Play and Apple App Store on February 18, 2021, subject to all final approvals. The LAVCE is expected mid-spring as part of Liquid Avatar's ongoing release schedule.
Using the LAVCE, issuers, like governments, workplaces, financial services, and others will be able to issue verifiable credentials that are linked to a holder's verifiable identity credential, creating a higher level of security and safety. Verifiers who want to make sure that an individual has the credential and is who they say they are will be able to scan a Liquid Avatar icon and to request a verifiable presentation to determine acceptance.
"We are excited to be working with KABN and the Liquid Avatar team to build and deploy the Liquid Avatar Verifiable Credential Ecosystem to enable issuers, verifiers and consumers to use verifiable credentials to deploy digital identity solutions that preserve privacy while enhancing security and safety," said Heather Dahl, CEO Indicio
See: KABN to Release Liquid Avatar in App Stores Feb 18 to Further Progress Self Sovereign Identity
"Liquid Avatar and the LAVCE will potentially provide a paradigm shift in the way that individuals manage, control and use their digital identity and will be interoperable with a host of emerging ecosystems and solutions through its open-source protocols," said RJ Reiser, Chief Business Development Officer KABN North America.
"We believe that our digital wallet will be a foundational piece that will empower consumers to fight against fraud in all its forms. Working with Indicio and its world-class, industry leading team, we will be creating one of the world's first consumer facing digital wallet programs that will enable issuers, verifiers and consumers to easily and simply adopt and deploy verifiable identity and additional credentials solutions."
Liquid Avatar, available at no cost to consumers, makes it easy for individuals to start and maintain the process of managing their SSI/digital identity while giving users the ability to share it with their friends, family, colleagues, and others easily, safely, and cryptographically secure through biometrically enabled Self Sovereign Identity tools and services.
The Liquid Avatar platform allows users to create high quality digital icon representations of the various facets of their online personalities and identity, which can be used to easily share what they want, when they want, and with whom they want. Liquid Avatar users will also be able to create digital wallets to manage and store a wide range of verifiable identity and access credentials, and to take their conventional identity online, allowing users to prove themselves as easily and effectively as they do in the "physical world".
Continue to view the full 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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Tom Blomfield, Monzo CEO Departs Challenger Bank Says ‘Bitter-Sweet’
Techcrunch | Steve O'Hear | Jan 20, 2021
Monzo founder Tom Blomfield is departing the U.K. challenger bank entirely at the end of the month, staff were informed earlier today.
Blomfield held the role of CEO until May last year when he assumed the newly created title of president and resigned from the Monzo board. However, having been given the time and space to consider his long-term future at the bank he helped create six years ago, and with a refreshed executive team now in place, he says it is time to “hand over the baton”.
In a brief but candid telephone interview, Blomfield also revealed that, as well as being unhappy during the last couple of years as CEO when the company scaled well beyond a “scrappy startup”, the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns exacerbated pressures placed on his own mental well-being. “I’m very happy to talk about what’s gone on with me, because I don’t think people do it enough”, he says.
“I stopped enjoying my role probably about two years ago… as we grew from a scrappy startup that was iterating and building stuff people really love, into a really important U.K. bank. I’m not saying that one is better than the other, just that the things I enjoy in life is working with small groups of passionate people to start and grow stuff from scratch, and create something customers love. And I think that’s a really valuable skill but also taking on a bank that’s three, four, five million customers and turning it into a 10 or 20 million customer bank and getting to profitability and IPOing it, I think those are huge exciting challenges, just honestly not ones that I found that I was interested in or particularly good at”.
In early 2019 after realising he was “doing too much and not enjoying it,” Blomfield began talking to Monzo investor Eileen Burbidge of Passion Capital, and Monzo Chair Gary Hoffman, about changing roles and how he needed more help. Then, he says, “COVID just exacerbated things,” a period when Monzo also had to cut staff, shutter its Las Vegas office and raise bridge funding in a highly publicised down round.
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The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship
Meanwhile, Blomfield describes his resignation as a Monzo employee as “bitter-sweet,” and is keen to praise what the Monzo team has already achieved, including since his much-reduced involvement. “I think the team has done phenomenally well over the last year or so in really difficult circumstances,” he says. In particular, he cites Monzo’s new CEO TS Anil as doing a “phenomenal” job, while describing Sujata Bhatia, who joined as COO last year, as “an absolute machine, a real operator”.
To that end, Monzo now has almost 5 million customers, up from 1.3 million in 2019. Monzo’s total weekly revenue is now 30% higher than pre-pandemic, helped no doubt by over 100,000 paid subscribers across Monzo Plus and Premium in the last five months (sources tell me the company surpassed £2 million in weekly revenue in December for the first time in its history). Albeit at a lower valuation, the challenger bank also raised £125 million from new and existing investors during the pandemic.
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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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Brazilian neobank Nubank Raises $400M Series G at $25B Valuation
Techcrunch | Marcella McCarthy | Jan 28, 2021
While the pandemic has left some startups strapped for cash, the aptly-named Brazilian neobank Nubank is swimming in it. This morning, the company announced that it has raised a $400 million Series G round, putting their total funding to date at $1.2 billion. But even more remarkable, in addition to their new $25 billion valuation (up from $10 billion in 2019), is their customer base of 34 million users, which they’ve built up since the fintech’s launch in 2013.
“We’ve gone from 12 million customers in 2019 to 34 million solely based on word of mouth,” said David Velez, the company’s co-founder and CEO.
By September last year, the company was onboarding 41,000 new customers per day. Nubank prides itself on having a $0 customer acquisition cost. Velez said the startup spends what would be marketing money on “great salaries” and superior customer service, which in turn creates “fanatic” customers who share their love for the brand with others.
See: Nubank Investment Underscores Tencent’s Quick Investing Pace
The new valuation places Nubank as the fourth most valuable financial institution in Latin America and the largest digital bank in the world by the number of customers and app downloads.
Nubank, based in São Paulo — the financial capital of Latin America and home to 12.8 million people — has expanded to Colombia and Mexico and plans to use the new funding to flesh out its operations in those markets while continuing to build out its product offerings in Brazil.
What started as a credit card company now functions as a full-service bank, minus the cumbersome bank branches, which is one way the company has been able to allocate its funding primarily toward growth.
“People were really done with being mistreated and paying high fees”
“People were really done with being mistreated and paying high fees” said Velez, speaking to Brazil’s notoriously bureaucratic and dreadful banking experience (liken it to going to the DMV, but regularly). Historically, to pay your monthly bills in Brazil, you had to go to a bank branch and wait in line — often outside in the heat — until it was your turn. The lines wrapped around the block like that of an Apple Store upon the release of the latest iPhone.
Read: Is Digital Banking Safe? Which is safer, Fintechs vs Incumbents?
“It’s like they are doing you a favor by opening an account for you and then charging you 450% interest rate per year,” said Velez. “Our bet was that people would really like to be treated like humans,” he added.
The company is known for reaching the unbanked population in Brazil, especially those who simply weren’t in the financial position to get a credit card. Traditional banks are present in about 80% of Brazilian municipalities, but considering that Nubank’s app-based product is location-agnostic, it’s able to reach 100% of the municipalities, the company said. In addition, it’s been helping Brazilians build credit.
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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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