Category Archives: Fintech Services
Canada: Budget 2021’s Impact On The Canadian Financial Sector
Tory's LLP | Blair W. Keefe , Brigitte Goulard , Peter Aziz , Eli Monas and Marissa Daniels | Apr 21, 2021
On April 19, Parliament tabled the federal budget (Budget 2021), which included a number of measures to be introduced affecting financial institutions.
What you need to know
Budget 2021 contains a number of proposals pertinent to financial institutions, including to:
- modernize the unclaimed assets regime;
- clarify that the right to cancel certain contracts with a bank under the proposed bank consumer protection framework does not apply in respect of large businesses;
- implement a new retail payments oversight framework;
- engage in a consultation with stakeholders regarding credit card fees, pricing and rewards;
- extend the sunset date in the federal financial institution statutes to 2025; and
- introduce legislative amendments to provide CDIC with greater flexibility to facilitate a transaction where it takes control of a failed member institution.
See: Robert Asselin: The federal budget has no answers on the question of growth
Unclaimed assets regime
The government proposes to amend the Bank of Canada Act, the Bank Act, the Trust and Loans Companies Act and the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 to modernize the federal unclaimed assets regime by increasing the information available and the use of electronic communication to match Canadians with their unclaimed assets, and expanding the scope of the regime to include unclaimed balances from terminated federally regulated pension plans and foreign denominated bank accounts.
Clarifying the bank consumer protection framework
In December 2018, amendments to the Bank Act introducing a new consumer protection framework received Royal Assent. The framework granted all bank customers, including large businesses, a limited right to cancel certain contracts with a bank. The framework added a limited right of all bank customers, including large businesses, to cancel certain contracts with a bank. In Budget 2021, the government reiterated a proposal first announced in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement to amend the framework to clarify that the statutory cancellation right only applies to retail consumers (which are individuals and small and medium-sized businesses) and excludes large businesses.
Retail payments oversight framework
The government is proposing to introduce legislation to implement a new retail payments oversight framework (RPOF) to continue to promote growth and innovation in digital payment services, such as digital wallets, while ensuring that these payments services are safer and more secure.
See: Canada’s payment system needs more competition
The RPOF was initially announced by the government in 2019 in response to the rapid pace of innovation in the retail payments space. It will require non-financial institution payment service providers (PSPs) to establish sound operational risk management practices and protect users' funds against losses. The RPOF will include a public registry of regulated PSPs maintained by the Bank of Canada to ensure their compliance with operational and financial requirements.
By ensuring that all competitors face comparable regulatory oversight, and checks and balances for the functions they perform, the intention is to create an enhanced level of trust amongst incumbent financial institutions and PSPs.
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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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Liquid Avatar Launches KABN Prepaid Visa Card and Mobile Card App in Canada
Liquid Avatar Technologies | Cara Buckspan | Apr 26, 2021
Company completes the next phase of its fintech corporate development with the integration of traditional and mobile payment solutions.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 26, 2021 / Liquid Avatar Technologies Inc. (CSE:LQID)(OTC PINK:TRWRF)(FRA:4T51) ("Liquid Avatar Technologies" or the "Company") a global blockchain, digital identity and fintech solutions company, is excited to announced that it has launched the KABN Prepaid Visa Card in Canada, powered by the XTM Inc. (PAID)(XTMIF) payment platform and its sponsoring financial institution.
Liquid Avatar Technologies has begun to roll out the program in Canada and has plans to expand its card program rollout to other geographic regions subject to all necessary approvals. The KABN Prepaid Visa Card and Card App will provide users with a host of services similar to those of major financial institutions. Additionally, the KABN Prepaid Visa Card will integrate seamlessly with the Liquid Avatar mobile App, providing qualified Liquid Avatar App users with an easy way to apply for and access their KABN Prepaid Visa Card directly from the Liquid Avatar mobile App.
KABN cardholders will automatically be entitled to participate in KABN KASH, an exclusive and customized consumer experience where users can earn cash back on transactions with over 400 major online merchants, like Chapters Indigo, Walmart, Lenovo, Sephora, Viator, Nike and others. Liquid Avatar mobile App users that also have a KABN Prepaid Visa Card will, from time to time, receive additional bonus offers.
See: Biometric payment, access and ID cards launching around the world
As part of its onboarding strategy for KABN Prepaid Visa Cardholders, the Company's state of the art, Verifiable Credentials Ecosystem, will provide users with a digital identity verification and validation services at no charge. Thus, allowing them to prove their identity continuously without the hassle of verifying time and time again to a growing list of online service providers and other value-based programs. In turn, validated users are qualified, subject to permissions and necessary approvals, for unique and customized financial services other value-based opportunities via KABN KASH.
According to Prepaid Cards Canada (Payments Canada 2020) Canadian Payments: Methods and Trends 2020, in 2019, prepaid cards, either plastic or virtual, grew significantly at the Point of Sale ("POS") with respectively, an 8% increase in volume and a 6% increase in value.
Nearly one in five Canadians either purchased or received at least one prepaid card per month. Young adults, those aged 18 to 34, and unbanked Canadians are the most common users of prepaid payments products. This is driven by a lack of access and acceptance of traditional banking products and services. Prepaid cards are starting to be used by a wider base, as those who seek security and identity protection for purchases have turned to prepaid cards as an alternative to cash. As prepaid cards are not directly linked to user account information, they offer an electronic method of payment that carries many of the benefits of cash.
A recent study found that 70 per cent of Canadians are more concerned about fraud today than they were five years ago, which can drive more consumers towards prepaid cards to minimize the risks that come with sharing financial information online or using cards directly linked to banking accounts. The use of prepaid cards has been accelerated by emerging e-commerce and mobile payments trends. Prepaid cards accounted for 10 per cent of e-commerce payments in 2019.
See: Digital Payments in America – Scaling the Peak
Canadians were three times more likely to use a prepaid payment for e-commerce than they were at physical POS merchant locations. The growing use of mobile payments also plays a significant role in accelerating prepaid card use. In 2019, 80 per cent of prepaid POS purchases were made using closed-loop store cards, with a notable number of prepaid purchases being linked to mobile devices and virtual prepaid cards. Over a quarter of Canadians (28 per cent) used at least one prepaid virtual card. The use of prepaid cards at these establishments is directly linked with rewards and loyalty programs that drive consumer usage.
"The KABN Prepaid Visa Card will give Canadian users access to unique value programs helping to enhance their spending power wherever Visa is accepted, in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide," said Michael Konikoff, Chief Revenue Officer of Liquid Avatar Technologies. "We are excited to be launching this pivotal part of our fintech network and to be working with XTM to accelerate our joint business efforts in Canada."
"Liquid Avatar Technologies' unique business model creates opportunity to convert a growing number of qualified, authenticated users into active program participants," said Marilyn Schaffer, CEO, XTM. "We expect to see rapid growth of this dynamic user base throughout Canada."
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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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IBM Is Turning Patents Into NFTs
Decrypt | Scott Chipolina | Apr 20, 2021
IBM has announced it is using its blockchain technology to turn corporate patents into non-fungible tokens with the help of patent firm IPwe.
In brief
- IBM is partnering with blockchain patent firm IPwe to turn patents into NFTs.
- The tokenized intellectual property will be made "commercially available" in Q4 2021.
IPwe, a platform for the world’s IP ecosystem, today announced that it plans to begin representing corporate patents as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), in collaboration with major computer company IBM.
The tokenization of intellectual property will, per the announcement, help position patents to be easily sold, traded, commercialized or otherwise monetized. In other words, turning patents into NFTs makes it easier to have those patents reach the market.
“The use of NFTs to represent patents will help create completely new ways to interact with intellectual property,” said IPwe CEO Erich Spangenberg.
Non-fungible tokens are cryptographically-unique digital assets that can be associated with digital content such as images or video—but any kind of content can be attached to an NFT, in this case patents.
See: After you die what happens to your digital assets and NFTs?
Intellectual property has traditionally been difficult to manage, value and transact, and the introduction of NFTs into this space is expected to change that. Spangenberg added,
“This is expected to benefit not only large enterprises that have significant intellectual property, but it will bring new opportunities to small and medium enterprises and even individual intellectual property owners.”
The NFTs will be stored and shared on the IPwe Platform, hosted by IBM Cloud, and powered by IBM’s blockchain.
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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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GET TICKETS NOW: BREAKING BARRIERS CONFERENCE & EXPO #FFCON21 MAY 11-13Sign-up for NCFAs weekly newsletter and never miss a beat:Support NCFA by Following us on Twitter!Follow @NCFACanada |
Clearbanc rebrands, raising $100 million Series C as Canada’s newest Unicorn
Techcrunch | Natasha Mascarenhas | Apr 20, 2021
The fintech company raises a $100 million Series C
After five years of providing non-dilutive financing for founders, Clearbanc is tired of being only a bank. So, it’s rebranding, and has just raised a $100 million Series C at a $2 billion valuation off of its broader ambitions. The new valuation is five times larger than it was when Clearbanc closed its Series B in 2019.
Clearbanc has renamed itself Clearco, a move that is more in line with the company’s long-term vision of providing data-driven solutions for founders, say co-founders Michele Romanow and Andrew D’Souza.
“We’re moving from just being a capital provider and [having] sort of a transactional relationship with our customers to really using data, our network, guidance [and] capital to be a long-term partner,” D’Souza said. In other words, Clearco wants founders to think of the company as more than a check-writing machine.
See: New head of Communitech leading incubator says ‘no reason why Canada couldn’t be the global hub of innovation’
Today’s news is a step away from what Clearco framed itself around just two years ago: the 20-minute term sheet. The product, perhaps its most well-known in tech, allowed e-commerce companies to raise non-dilutive marketing growth capital between $10,000 to $10 million based on its revenue and ad spend. The founders then flexed rapid capital deployment based on data — and, to date, Clearco has put more than $2 billion in over 4,600 companies.
“We can provide you the capital really efficiently, but then we can also help you figure out what to do with that capital to grow your business, and increase the value, and that was a big part of the motivation around the rebrand,” D’Souza said.
Clearco has been on a tear of new product launches in the past year. In April 2020, Clearco launched ClearRunway to help SaaS founders secure non-dilutive capital repaid through revenue-share agreements. A few months later, in July, it launched a way for founders to figure out how to value their companies based on benchmarking data and internal metrics. In October, Clearco launched a tool that would purchase a company’s inventory upfront directly from suppliers, and is then paid back as products sell. And in February, the company announced that it had created Clearangel, a product similar to its 20-minute term sheet, but focused on founders who bring in less revenue.
See: World’s biggest ecommerce investor enters UK with an alternative VC model
The company, still unprofitable, declined to disclose ARR, but instead pointed to another proxy: With all of its capital products, Clearco makes 6% in fees when it is repaid. Last year, Clearco spent $1 billion on its companies. This means that Clearco brought in around $60 million in sales last year.
“We were very naïve when we started the business around the complexity around how fast you could lose a lot of money if you don’t get things right,” he said. Romanow added that in the beginning, Clearco had “very, very high loss rates” and it has gotten better with more data over time. The company is doubling down on different channels to get and shape and convey that data thus feels like a logical next step.
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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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Snapshot: the regulatory framework for financial services compliance in Canada
Gowling WLG | Michael Garellek | Mar 19, 2021
Regulatory framework
What national authorities regulate the provision of financial products and services?
Financial institutions
The Department of Finance is the government body responsible for federally regulated financial institutions (FRFIs), including banks, trust and loan companies, insurance companies and credit unions. The Department of Finance is principally responsible for proposing changes to legislation and adopting new regulation governing FRFIs.
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) are two key regulatory authorities supervising FRFIs. Generally, OSFI is responsible for prudential regulation and establishing guidelines for capital, reporting and business practices, and FCAC is responsible for consumer protection.
See: Big Changes In Financial Regulation: Dialogue With The OSC 2020
In addition to OSFI and FCAC, each province has regulatory authorities that oversee financial institutions outside of the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government. These include, among others, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) in Quebec, and the British Columbia Financial Institutions Commission. Recently, amendments to the Bank Act were enacted allowing a credit union incorporated provincially to assume federal jurisdiction provided it amalgamates with an existing federal credit union or with another provincial credit union being continued under the Bank Act.
Deposit-taking institutions are members of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC) and Payments Canada (formally known as the Canadian Payments Association). CDIC is a statutory corporation that provides deposit insurance for certain types of small deposits to member institutions. Payments Canada operates Canada’s payment clearing and settlement systems. Membership in Payments Canada and CDIC is mandatory for Canadian banks as well as for certain trust and loan companies that accept deposits.
The Canadian Payments Association, known by its business name Payments Canada, is a not-for-profit association responsible for the clearing and settlement infrastructure, processes and rules for Canada’s non-credit card related national payments systems, which are the Large Value System (LVSS) and the Retail System (ACSS). The participant members of Payments Canada are largely regulated financial institutions (ie, banks, authorised foreign banks, trust and loan companies, credit unions and financial cooperative credit associations and caisses). The Minister of Finance must approve all by-laws (other than those that relate to administration of Payments Canada) and can direct that the rules be amended or repealed or that new rules be adopted. The governor of the Bank of Canada also has oversight responsibilities because both the LVSS and ACSS are designated clearing and settlement systems under the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act.
Securities registrants
Securities registrants include securities dealers and advisers, derivatives dealers and advisers, investment fund managers, exchanges and other alternative trading systems, designated ratings organisations and clearing agencies, commodities futures dealers and advisers. It also includes, in certain circumstances, those persons benefiting from an exemption from registration in any of those aforementioned categories.
See: Global Risk Institute Report: Discussing Open Banking Regulation for Canada
Canada does not currently have a federal securities regulator. The securities market is regulated by the provincial and territorial securities commissions (securities regulators). Despite the lack of a federal regulator, the provincial and territorial regulators coordinate the development of national rules and standards through the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), which administers a passport system for extra-provincial registration. The most active securities regulators in Canada are the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), the AMF, the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC), and the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC). Investment dealers are regulated by a national self-regulatory organisation, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada or IIROC.
Previous attempts to create a national securities regulator in Canada were deemed to improperly fetter the jurisdiction of the provincial legislatures and therefore considered to be unconstitutional (see Reference re Securities Act, 2011 SCC 66, [2011] 3 SCR 837). In August 2014, the provincial governments of British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and New Brunswick entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the government of Canada with respect to the creation of a cooperative capital markets regulatory system. The MOA proposes uniform provincial capital markets acts, complementary federal legislation, and the creation of a federal capital markets regulator. On 9 November 2018, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the proposed cooperative regulatory system is constitutional (see Reference re Pan-Canadian Securities Legislation, 2018 SCC 48). Consequently, while the proposed system is not yet in effect, there may be significant changes to the structure of regulation of capital markets in Canada in the near future.
What activities does each national financial services authority regulate?
Financial institutions
OSFI and FCAC both regulate many financial services industries, including the business of banking, acceptance of deposits, the provision of insurance, trust services and mortgage lending by FRFIs. Also, OSFI regulates the administration of pension plans, and FCAC regulates the operation of payment card networks through voluntary codes of conduct. Provincial and territorial financial service regulators regulate financial institutions including provincial trust and loan corporations, credit unions, insurers and the distribution and sale of financial products offered by these financial institutions.
See: Review: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) submission to Advisory Committee on Open Banking
Securities registrants
The securities regulators regulate securities markets, including the activities of trading, advising and dealing in securities, capital raising and the administration of investment funds and marketplaces. They also regulate the creation and trading of derivatives, including over-the-counter (OTC) derivative contracts and commodities futures contracts.
What products does each national financial services authority regulate?
Financial institutions
OSFI or FCAC, or both, regulate the following financial products:
- deposits including term deposits and retail deposit accounts;
- registered investment products and principal protected notes;
- offering of credit;
- contracts of insurance, including life insurance, property and casualty insurance, and mortgage insurance;
- pension plans; and
- payment cards.
Securities registrants
Securities regulators regulate any product that is a ‘security’, which is an open-ended category involving a fact-specific analysis, but which includes bonds, shares, stocks, investment contracts, subscriptions, profit-sharing agreements, income or annuity contracts not issued by an insurance company, options, OTC derivatives and commodities futures contracts. More recently, digital assets, including crypto currencies, have received the attention of securities regulators in Canada. Depending on how these digital assets are offered to the public, many have been characterised by regulators as investment contracts or derivatives, including contracts for difference.
See: Final Report: Ontario Capital Markets Modernization Committee Recommendations
The concept of an ‘investment contract’ is not defined within the Act but has been the subject of substantial consideration by Canadian courts and securities regulators across Canada. The courts in Canada have applied the tests from Pacific Coast Coin Exchange of Canada Ltd v Ontario Securities Commission (1978) 2 SCR 112 to determine whether an instrument is an investment contract in a four-part analysis as to whether the scheme involves:
- an investment of money;
- with an intention or expectation of profit;
- in a common enterprise, in which the fortunes of the investor are interwoven with and dependent upon the efforts and success of those seeking the investment of third parties; and
- where the efforts made by those other than the investor are significant, and those managerial efforts affect the failure or success of the enterprise.
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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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GET TICKETS NOW: BREAKING BARRIERS CONFERENCE & EXPO #FFCON21 MAY 11-13Sign-up for NCFAs weekly newsletter and never miss a beat:Support NCFA by Following us on Twitter!Follow @NCFACanada |
Faster payments: a corporate treasury breakthrough
Association of Corporate Treasurers | March 2021
Faster payments initiatives are a key breakthrough for treasurers and financial markets. Tony Carfang asks what comes next and how we measure success
Over the past several decades, payments have become faster, cheaper, more secure and more reliable. Cheques used to take days in the mail and then days to clear once deposited. International funds transfers would pass through several banks, each taking a ‘lifting’ fee as the funds slowly passed from originator to recipient. Fortunately, those days are over.
Transaction settlement times have declined from weeks (the cheque is in the mail) to days to minutes. Only a couple of years ago, same-day settlement was hailed as a breakthrough. Now, the target is 10 seconds or less and many closed networks are achieving that fairly consistently, something that is now being called ‘immediate payments’.
See: Clubhouse launches payments for creators
Central banks, commercial banks and payment networks are racing to make payments even speedier. This is all very good, since timing delays in payments and their accompanying information create risk and uncertainty as well as wreaking havoc with cash forecasts and liquidity cushions.
In the US, the Federal Reserve launched its Faster Payments Task Force with this statement: “The task force calls upon all stakeholders to seize this historic opportunity to realise the vision for a payment system in the United States that is faster, ubiquitous, broadly inclusive, safe, highly secure and efficient by 2020.”
Around the globe, the UK announced its Faster Payments Service in 2008. In 2017, the European Central Bank (ECB) kicked off its TIPS program (TARGET Instant Payment Settlement) with the goal of instant payments 24/7 within the euro area. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority launched the Faster Payments System initiative in 2018.
Curiously and embarrassingly, however, securities settlement times around the globe remain prehistoric in this faster-immediate payments context. Stocks, bonds and most mutual funds settle in a T+2 framework, two days. That’s business days – so add in two more days for the weekend.
Benefits
The success of faster payments is one of the most important financial market breakthroughs of our time.
See: Revolut to roll out QR code payments for business customers in 25 countries
No doubt, payments are becoming faster, cheaper, more secure and more universal. The benefits of these initiatives are immense.
- More efficient use of capital. Float falls from days to seconds, lowering receivables. As settlement speeds up, less working capital is required to support the float. Ultimately, cash is freed up for other corporate purposes or returned to shareholders.
- Reduced credit risk. The risk of a vendor failing to pay for goods or services increases with elapsed time. By settling a transaction ‘faster’, that risk decreases. Payment problems can be identified and addressed earlier. Collateral can be seized. Shipments can be withheld. Collection treatment can begin. The end benefit is that a higher percentage of top-line sales reaches the bottom line.
- Fraud reduction. Fraud is better policed and more quickly identified. When transactions are settled in seconds rather than days, fraud is identified in seconds rather than days. This earlier identification will lead to higher recoveries and lower fraud losses.
- Reduced markets risk. They are rare but when they occur, they hurt. Bank failures, devaluations, currency blocks and other external events happen without warning and often on weekends or at least after the close of business. The faster the payment, the less likelihood of a crippling event happening while the payment is still in process.
- Robust information. Most of the faster payments networks are keenly aware of the importance of the payment information and building rich payment flows into the process.
This technology advancement will help a multitude of industries such as online gaming centres where people want to play safe and want fast and easy cash out, withdrawals & deposit methods.
A word about crypto payments
No review of the payments landscape would be complete without acknowledging the role of cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, in payments. Indeed, there have been a couple of notable corporations announcing their acceptance of Bitcoin for payments. It’s very early in the game, but with central banks now exploring Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), expect to see these payments evolve in a material way.
See: Digital Payments in America – Scaling the Peak
There are two major obstacles at present and we are watching developments closely:
- Since the transactions are anonymous, we expect to see tight regulations to protect the legitimate payments while thwarting underground payments.
- From an accounting and taxation standpoint, there are questions around whether cryptocurrencies receive ‘cash and cash equivalent’ treatment and how gains and losses will be treated.
How these two challenges are resolved will determine the ultimate utility of cryptocurrencies as payment vehicles.
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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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GET TICKETS NOW: BREAKING BARRIERS CONFERENCE & EXPO #FFCON21 MAY 11-13Sign-up for NCFAs weekly newsletter and never miss a beat:Support NCFA by Following us on Twitter!Follow @NCFACanada |
Nova Credit Launches Dating App to Help Newcomers and Locals Find Love
Nova Credit blog | Apr 1, 2021
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Apr. 1, 2020 - Nova Credit, a global credit bureau enabling immigrants access to credit, has launched a new direct-to-consumer dating service. The app, named “Score!”, matches any U.S. immigrant with a local American, based on analysis of their credit scores and other behavioral insights. It is available on both iOS and Android, and has an early user rating of 4.1 stars. See Score! in action.
Recent data released from the Advanced Population Research Institute of Louisville’s Foreign-born Overseas Observations: Longitudinal Study shows that non-U.S. born residents are not only remaining longer in the U.S. (from an average of 6 years in 2000 to 11 years in 2020), but also more likely to marry a local (from 4% in the 1980s to a peak of 12% last year). Nova Credit Head of Product Melanie Aliperti offered, “as we’ve run deeper user research, we’ve found that the quest for love is becoming a more significant theme and requested feature - particularly as newcomers seek deeper cultural integration and mingling.”
The feedback from early beta users has been promising. Priyanka from India described her experience, “Bumble, Raya, Tinder -- I’ve been on them all. But with Score!, I found an app that felt right for me. I shared stories of my Indian heritage and favourite Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, rather than trying to just fit in with American cultural references of Tiger King. And in meeting [now-partner, name removed for confidentiality], I’ve found an American who values my international perspective.”
See: The Dark Side of Fintech Borrowing
Nova Credit’s analytic capabilities in finance remain at the forefront of the application’s design, leveraging the latest trends in behavioral economics and machine learning. Users are prompted to upload their credit score, whether domestic or international, and the algorithm extrapolates their romantic preferences and partnership viability. Nova Credit CEO Misha Esipov expounds:
“The financial industry has known for decades that credit insights are the strongest predictors of personality and ultimately compatibility. We have the richest data insights of any industry as well as some of the best data science talent. With this launch, we are proud to expand the remit of our industry and the impact on our consumers”.
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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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GET TICKETS NOW: BREAKING BARRIERS CONFERENCE & EXPO #FFCON21 MAY 11-13Sign-up for NCFAs weekly newsletter and never miss a beat:Support NCFA by Following us on Twitter!Follow @NCFACanada |
