The report neglects write access
Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Fintech Opinions
How to build an office that attracts clients and staff
Guest Post | Aug 25, 2021
Google, Kuala Lumpar
Not all offices are equal. It's a fact of life.
In fact, over the past eighteen months, it could be said that offices have come in even more shapes and sizes. Rather than the stereotypical commercial space, we've now seen desks squeezed under the stairs, behind the spare bed, and all sorts of other inventive places. There is plenty of evidence that this will continue.
However, what if you are in the business of attracting clients, or even prospective staff? It's here where the requirements need to be a little more creative. After all, while you want a practical and efficient space, you need a welcoming one as well. Through today's piece, we'll now take a look at some of the ways you can achieve this.
Be clear about your brand
This is the first thing you need to do. You need to be clear about what you are trying to achieve, and how you want to present yourself. If you're a creative agency, then you need to be able to express this through your office space. If you're a law firm, then it's important that your office reflects this as well.
Without trying to talk in cliches, first impressions matter. If your office space does not resemble your brand sufficiently, it's an immediate red flag for potential clients and those who might work for you.
Why do staff want to work in your office space?
This is a question you need to ask yourself. It's one that will help you understand what your staff want from their office space.
For example, if you have a young and vibrant team, they might want somewhere that is more relaxed and fun (think the classic table football). On the other hand, if your staff are more mature and professional, then they might want something more traditional.
This can come in the form of a trial-and-error approach. Test new things and see how your staff react. You can use lock up garages and other temporary storage means to swiftly move items in and out of your building to find the perfect balance.
We're going to assume (perhaps blindly) that you don't have the budget to offer monster, industry-beating salaries. However, if you can get to the bottom of what your staff want when they turn up to work, you can portray this in your office design and win them over in more creative ways.
How do you welcome clients?
A good office design has to be able to guide clients through your space and get them into the right mindset for their meeting. This is something that can't be understated. Positive first impressions can make a difference, such as the use of touchless access or smart home or building systems.
See: What are the back-to-office etiquette rules?
Therefore, if you want clients to really feel like they are part of your team, make sure that they feel welcome from the moment they arrive. It's all about the small touches, and it means you can spend more time with them during their visit.
Make it clear where people should be
An office space isn't just a jumble of desks. Sure, it's important to make sure that everyone has a comfortable working environment. However, the layout is also key to ensure that people are still able to work with minimal distractions. Zoning is a great way to achieve this. Go crazy with the ‘welcoming’ solutions we have outlined today, but also make it obvious where the real work happens.
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
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
The Impact of Fintech on Central Bank Governance
IMF | Marianne Bechara, Wouter Bossu, Yan Liu, Arthur Rossi | Aug 24, 2021
Fintech presents unique opportunities for central banks. The rapid changes in technology that are transforming the financial system will allow central banks to enhance the execution of various of their core functions, such as currency issuance and payment systems.
But some aspects of fintech pose major challenges.
Central banks have always been at the cutting edge of financial technology and innovation. In the past, the invention of the banknote, the processing of payments through debits and credits in book-entry accounts, and the successive transitions of interbank payment systems from the telegraph to internet protocols were all transformative innovations.
See:
-
BIS Research: CBDCs beyond borders: results from a survey of central banks
-
Fintech Research and reports
Today, central banks are facing new and unprecedented challenges: distributed ledger technology, new data analytics (artificial intelligence [AI] and machine learning), and cloud computing, along with a wider spread of mobile access and increased internet speed and bandwidth.
The purpose of this note is to discuss the authors’ preliminary views on how, from a legal perspective, central banks can best deal with the impact of fintech on their governance. These preliminary views are based on a review of central banks’ reaction thus far to the challenges posed by fintech to the legal foundations of their governance.
Download the full 23 page PDF report --> 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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
What are the back-to-office etiquette rules?
The Globe and Mail | Alex Cyr | Aug 20, 2021
Dan Poliwoda got a glimpse of office life when he was hired as a summer law student at Dickinson Wright LLP’s Toronto location in 2019. Back then, he wore a suit to work every day, spent lunches and the occasional happy hour with colleagues, and tried to make a good impression by spending long hours at his desk.
See: Why workplace learning matters more than ever
But now, as he prepares to start at the firm as a litigation lawyer next month, he is not sure how he will dress, or how much time he should spend at the office, or even whether it will be acceptable to invite co-workers to lunch.
“Etiquette can sound like something that is stagnant, but in essence it’s a snapshot of what a group decides is mutually agreeable,” she said. “It evolves. Postpandemic, safety and security at work will be top of mind.”
When many of the 3.1 million Canadians who switched to remote work last year return to the office, they may struggle to figure out what now counts as acceptable behaviour. They will need to contend with varying levels of personal comfort with in-person activities among co-workers, changing office policies, and a lack of non-verbal cues from mask-shrouded faces.
How often should I come in to work?
Data from Statistics Canada collected during the pandemic challenge the value of spending long days and late nights at the office. Only 3 per cent of respondents reported being less productive since starting to work from home, as opposed to 32 per cent who found themselves to be more productive. Eighty per cent of new remote workers in the country indicated they want to work at least half their hours from home after pandemic restrictions are lifted.
See: Can Liquid Avatar end fake COVID vaccine cards?
Ms. Blais-Comeau said employers will have to do more than simply allow employees to work from home – they will also have to breed a type of workplace culture that encourages them to do so.
“It’s much more about the outcomes you’re delivering as opposed to the hours or time you spend sitting in a seat.”
Talking about COVID: It’s probably best not to ask your co-workers if they’re vaccinated, unless they’re your friends. “Ask yourself: Is it that you are concerned for them, for yourself, or just curiosity?” she said. “If you are concerned, volunteer the information and observe their body language and see if it says something.”
The Handshake: Don’t go for it, at least for now.
The Coffee Chat: Keep having them, but offer options based on comfort level.
See: How HR Leaders are Building the Organization of the Future
Meetings: Should I make a point of attending all meetings in person, if I have that option? Ms. Austin is expecting her workplace to offer a mixture of in-person and virtual meetings by the fall. She said she likes the hybrid model, because office meetings are better for critical planning, whereas virtual meetings remove any feeling of “us versus them” between local workers and colleagues in other cities.
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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
Embedded finance won’t make every firm into a fintech company
TechCrunch | Eyal Lifshitz | Aug 12, 2021
A short decade after software started eating the world, along came headlines about every company becoming a fintech thanks to innovation and growth in embedded finance business models.
This narrative oversimplifies the evolution that’s happening in the financial services sector. Storing and moving money and extending credit in a regulated environment is difficult. And differentiating your offering from incumbent financial institutions requires much more than superficial tweaks.
What really makes a fintech company extends far beyond user interface enhancements and delivering financial services to end customers. It’s what’s “under the hood” — the full-stack approach that allows fintech companies to truly innovate for their customers.
The fallacy behind the hype
The “every company will be a fintech” stance investors are bullish on conflates multiple approaches to inlaying financial offerings, coupling the resurgence of white-labeled financial services (which have been around for decades) with the rising banking, payments and lending-as-a-service players. The latter approach allows companies to customize their financial product experience while outsourcing many core financial services tasks. The former is simply distribution through embedded delivery.
See: High tech meets high finance: The real revolution on Wall Street
There are four core tenets to fully operate as a financial services provider: a customer-facing product, transactional infrastructure, risk management and compliance, and customer servicing. In the case of lending, there is a fifth tenet: Companies also need to be able to manage capital. Embedded financial services help companies sidestep the majority of what it really means to be a fintech.
The limitations of platforms as a service
Tools and turnkey solutions that help non-finance companies build financial applications more recently came into the mix: VCs are enthusiastic about new players building embedded payments, lending and, more recently, banking platform services (also known as BaaS) through APIs and backend tools.
As opposed to financial infrastructure services provided directly by sponsor banks or processors providing payments or ledger services, these platforms abstract the underlying infrastructure, wrap them with friendly-to-use APIs, and bundle core financial elements like risk management, compliance and servicing. While these platforms do offer some self-efficacy for companies to provide financial services, their major limitation is that they’re general purpose by design.
See: AI bank of the future needs the right talent, culture, and organizational design
UI is not nearly enough to differentiate, and addressing customers’ needs while minding overall unit economics is critical. One fintech’s choices on these matters may be completely different from another if they address different segments — it all boils down to tradeoffs. For example, deciding on which data sources to use and balancing between onboarding and transactional risk look different if optimizing for freelancers rather than larger small businesses.
In contrast, third-party platform providers must be generic enough to power a broad range of companies and to enable multiple use cases. While the companies partnering with these services can build and customize at the product feature level, they are heavily reliant on their platform partner for infrastructure and core financial services, thus limited to that partner’s configurations and capabilities.
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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
Conservatives release full platform promising billions of dollars in new pandemic aid and Open Banking
CBC | Aug 16, 2021
The party would create new legislation to "open banking so Canadians can connect with fintech companies that can provide a better offer for banking services."
The Conservative Party of Canada today released its full 160-page election platform — an ambitious agenda that promises billions of dollars in new spending to prop up an economy ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unlike past Conservative platforms, this one embraces a robust role for government in the economy through large cash injections to help businesses weather the pandemic crisis over the next two years.
See: Reflections on Canada’s open banking report
The multi-billion dollar plan has not yet been costed; the party says the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) has not finished studying the numbers.
O'Toole said a Conservative government would balance the budget in ten years' time. The federal deficit for this fiscal year alone is expected to be $381.6 billion.
"You'll probably notice ideas that you haven't heard from Conservatives like me before. It's time for Conservatives to take inequality seriously, because that's becoming more of a problem in our country," Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole says in the opening paragraphs of the document.
Beyond job-creation measures and child care, the detailed platform includes a number of populist-minded measures — a tougher regulatory stance on cell phone companies, a crackdown on grocery price fixing and new legislation to "open banking so Canadians can connect with fintech companies that can provide a better offer for banking services."
A Conservative-led government would also order the Competition Bureau to investigate bank fees. O'Toole said he would allow foreign telecommunications companies to offer cell phone service to Canadians to drive down prices, "provided that the same treatment is reciprocated for Canadian companies in that company's country."
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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
7 online networking tips for CEOs
MT | Orianna Rosa Royle | Aug 12, 2021
MT Asks: How do you find and maintain a network solely through a screen?
Now that the government has lifted the order to work from home and the summer holidays draw to a close, many firms are eyeing up an office return in September. But as many workers and leaders alike have woken up to how little work-life balance they had prior to the pandemic, the new world of work is looking flexible.
Major firms have made it clear that they will not be demanding that bums are on seats five days a week from 9am to 5pm, with many launching hybrid working policies. As a result, it’s unlikely that people’s “in-office” days will always align and so networking will always require an element of digital know-how. So being able to find and maintain a network through a screen is vital. With that in mind, we asked leaders for the best networking tips they have learnt in the past 16 months of working remotely.
Vicky Matthews, co-founder, Pink Spaghetti
Whichever mediums you choose, whether LinkedIn, Facebook, Clubhouse or Twitter, it’s only going to work if you commit to it. People need to get to know the real you so they can decide if they want to work or connect with you. You have to be active to build relationships: it’s not going to work if you dip in and out half-heartedly. If you’re limited on time, choose the one platform that works best for you and focus on that.
See: 6 lessons on online privacy and digital authentication
Forget the hard sell – think carefully about the benefits you can bring to situations. You don’t have to take part in every discussion or reply to every post by someone you admire. If you’re not contributing something useful, it’s OK to take a back seat. Keep your contributions polite and helpful and people will associate your name with positivity.
Ashley Friedlein, chief executive, Guild
On social media platforms like LinkedIn, which is considered a must for B2B networking, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to cut through the noise and make meaningful connections. Being active, and more importantly ‘useful’ in niche communities is increasingly important when building a network. In these smaller communities of ‘practice, purpose or passion’, there is often more of a focus and a higher level of shared knowledge and expertise.
Personalisation and intimacy aren’t always replicable on larger social media channels. In my experience, being generous, sharing knowledge and advice, demonstrating expertise, connecting ideas and people and showing that you have a passion for what you do ensures you are far more memorable. After all, what is the point of developing a LinkedIn profile with thousands of connections you don't actually know when your time could be spent forging fewer, more valuable relationships?
Vonnie Alexander, executive and team coach
Networking is really one human being connecting with another. You don’t need to be selling something to network. Be curious, open and ready to learn. It is always better to go into a network situation thinking about what you can give rather than gain. People will always remember how you made them feel, and that’s true online as well as offline.
Try: Welcome to FintechCanada.io! Free Listing and Networking Opportunity for Canadian Fintechs
Be intelligent with your LinkedIn networking. If you know someone or have recently met them, request to connect. If you don’t know them but want to, be explicit about why. Avoid random, wordless requests. And if you know people with common ground, introduce them. It’s not about vested interest. Then don’t forget to join in the discussion rather than just observing. Give others a reason to notice and engage with you. Find your voice and use it online. The worst that can happen is that nobody reads it, the best, it resonates with someone.
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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
Reflections on Canada’s open banking report
Paytechs of Canada | Alex Vronces | Aug 2, 2021
The report neglects write access
As expected, the advisory committee has recommended that Canada focus on implementing read access at launch and write access in a later phase of open banking. Read access lets consumers and businesses share their financial information with fintechs, while write access lets them authorize fintechs to act upon it — by opening a new bank account, for example, or moving money from one account to another. The advisory committee’s timeline suggests that we shouldn’t even begin considering write access until 2023.
This is a mistake of import. As the Competition Bureau has said, Canada will see more competition and innovation in the financial sector if we make the movement of money between financial institutions more seamless, empowering Canadians to better vote with their dollars. Write access, if done right, will make the movement of money more seamless than ever.
See: Minister Freeland releases final report with 34 recommendations on Open Banking from the Advisory committee
I’m not saying write access should be turned on at the same time read access is. The advisory committee is a sage assembly. They know that they risk getting nothing if they ask for too much. That’s why they even suggested starting with a limited scope of read access to financial information. Write access — because we’re talking about the movement of money — comes with more risk and complexity, which, according to the advisory committee, would delay the roll out of open banking.
So if now’s not a good time to consider write access, then when is?
The devil is in the (implementation) details
The first is that this is just a report and it’s still up to the federal government to act on the recommendations. Though there’s no reason to think the federal government won’t, there’s no reason to think it will. Minister Freeland’s statement in support of a “regulated, made-in-Canada system” is reassuring, but such a system can take many shapes and sizes, and promises are just promises for a sector that has seen so many go unfulfilled.
The second is that the advisory committee’s recommended timeline is looking increasingly uncertain.
For one, open banking is already behind schedule. The report was dated April, but the report was released in August. With a proposed go-live of January 2023, we should have already delivered one of the report’s foundational recommendations by now: appoint a “tsar” to work with the relevant players to make progress on the first phase of open banking.
See: Canada’s payment system needs more competition
If I had to bet, I’d say the timeline is going to look more and more uncertain as time goes on. With an impending election, we’re going to lose another few months of valuable time. On top of that, the report mentions a few things that could further delay the implementation of a “regulated, made-in-Canada system,” including “existing legislative or regulatory impediments.” As we all know, there’s no upper bound on how long legislative and regulatory change can take.
Tough practical and political choices will need to be made. The cynic in me suspects that these trade-offs will be made behind closed doors, as push comes to shove in the negotiations between banks and the government. Whether they’ll be made to open banking’s favour or detriment is to be determined.
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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
