David Durand, Advisor, Innovation and Advocacy
September 9th, 2020
David Durand, LL.L., B.Sc. chem., – Founder and Managing Partner of Durand Lawyers – Lawyer (Québec)[...]
Category Archives: Fintech Services
US Crypto: 2020 Year in Review
HSE | Sarah H. Brennan | Jan 9, 2021
2020 US Summary
If we put the last quarter of 2020 aside, this year could be marked by the sheer number of SEC enforcement actions and settlements in the crypto space, with more rumored to be in the works. However, the U.S. ended 2020 with a bang in the form of a flurry of proposed crypto regulations in Q4 with varying degrees of controversiality. Notably, the proposed STABLE Act and Mnuchin's midnight rulemaking on self-custody have caused a bit of an uproar, which we touch on in more depth below.
See: Vitalik’s 2020 Year End Thoughts from Singapore
Absent these recent rulemakings, there has been an unevenness in the Trump administration’s approach to the space and the last four years at the federal level haven’t been marked with any significant level of regulatory coordination or cohesive policy at the federal level.
However, to pick upon some themes that we will talk about in this year-end review, regulators have vacillated between: (i) a focus on enforcement vs. prescriptive guidance, (ii) a tech specific vs. tech agnostic approach, (iii) aggressive views of jurisdictional reach vs. deference, and (iv) state, federal, and global coordination and cooperation vs. a more insular agency-specific approach.
These last minute rulemakings marked the last acts of an administration with what could be characterized as an ambivalent view of the crypto space, neither friendly nor particularly enabling. Although the IRS 2014 guidance (Notice 2014-2) classifying cryptocurrency as property was pivotal in pushing the predominant use case (use case follows tax treatment) for Bitcoin and other currency-like crypto assets toward a commodity-like store of value as opposed to a medium of exchange (think gold bar as opposed to dollar bill), other U.S. regulators have doubled down on labeling, and regulating, crypto as a currency-like instrument, among other things.
With Bitcoin crossing $34,000 to hit an all-time high (“ATH”) in early January, Ethereum's native cryptocurrency, Ether (“ETH”), trending close to its ATH from 2018 and the proliferation of stablecoin projects, the U.S. government may now be rethinking previous pronouncements that crypto does not pose a significant threat to the U.S.’s fiat hegemony worthy of addressing.
See: The Decade in Blockchain — 2010 to 2020 in Review
The most activity on this front is taking place at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network of the U.S. Treasury (“FinCEN”) (see proposed rulemakings here and as discussed below) as well as Department of Justice (“DOJ”) (see the DOJ Enforcement Framework released in October 2020), as U.S. authorities continue to bring anti-money laundering (“AML”) compliance, sanctions compliance, and terrorist financing concerns to the forefront.
We have also seen significant enforcement actions against BitMEX as discussed below, John McAfee’s arrest for tax evasion related in part to his activities in crypto and the recently announced settlement between the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) and BitGo, Inc. for violations of sanctions programs.
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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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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2020 FINTECH DRAFT PITCHING AND DEMO COMPANY WINNERS!   |
He Created the Web. Now He’s Out to Remake the Digital World.
The New York Times | | Jan 10, 2021
Tim Berners-Lee wants to put people in control of their personal data. He has technology and a start-up pursuing that goal. Can he succeed?
Three decades ago, Tim Berners-Lee devised simple yet powerful standards for locating, linking and presenting multimedia documents online. He set them free into the world, unleashing the World Wide Web.
Others became internet billionaires, while Mr. Berners-Lee became the steward of the technical norms intended to help the web flourish as an egalitarian tool of connection and information sharing.
See: PwC Report: Canadian Digital Trust Insights 2021: Cybersecurity comes of age
But now, Mr. Berners-Lee, 65, believes the online world has gone astray. Too much power and too much personal data, he says, reside with the tech giants like Google and Facebook — “silos” is the generic term he favors, instead of referring to the companies by name. Fueled by vast troves of data, he says, they have become surveillance platforms and gatekeepers of innovation.
Regulators have voiced similar complaints. The big tech companies are facing tougher privacy rules in Europe and some American states, led by California. Google and Facebook have been hit with antitrust suits.
But Mr. Berners-Lee is taking a different approach: His answer to the problem is technology that gives individuals more power.
The goal, he said, is to move toward “the web that I originally wanted.”
“Pods,” personal online data stores, are a key technical ingredient to achieve that goal. The idea is that each person could control his or her own data — websites visited, credit card purchases, workout routines, music streamed — in an individual data safe, typically a sliver of server space.
Companies could gain access to a person’s data, with permission, through a secure link for a specific task like processing a loan application or delivering a personalized ad. They could link to and use personal information selectively, but not store it.
Mr. Berners-Lee’s vision of personal data sovereignty stands in sharp contrast to the harvest-and-hoard model of the big tech companies. But it has some echoes of the original web formula — a set of technology standards that developers can use to write programs and that entrepreneurs and companies can use to build businesses.
See: Fintech & Cybersecurity: Key Risks and Solutions
He began an open-source software project, Solid, and later founded a company, Inrupt, with John Bruce, a veteran of five previous start-ups, to kick-start adoption.
“This is about making markets,” said Mr. Berners-Lee, who is Inrupt’s chief technology officer.
Inrupt introduced in November its server software for enterprises and government agencies. And the start-up is getting a handful of pilot projects underway in earnest this year, including ones with Britain’s National Health Service and with the government of Flanders, the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium.
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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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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2020 FINTECH DRAFT PITCHING AND DEMO COMPANY WINNERS! |
The Rise in Big Tech and Fintech Credit
NCFA | Samuel He | Jan 13, 2021
As a Gen Z, technology has played a big role in my everyday life ever since I was young and now as a remote intern at NCFA, I’m excited to share some research and insights on Big Tech and Fintech credit markets.
Big Tech and its expanding dominance
Lending institutions such as banks and credit unions have traditionally been the chief sources of finance in most economies in the world, however large technology firms are uniquely positioned to capitalize on a technology-focused alternative to financial services. Their advanced AI and machine learning capabilities allow these companies to utilize the swaths of data that their user base generates to tailor prices, determine creditworthiness, and screen loans. Amazon’s e-commerce sales for example, reached a staggering $416.48 billion in 2020. As online channels expand due to general trends and the global pandemic, they pose an existential thread to traditional brick and mortar models. UBS analysts estimate that 75,000 brick-and-mortar stores could be forced into closure by 2026.
See: Walmart to launch fintech startup with partner Ribbit Capital
Companies like Walmart have seen their supply-side economies of scale diminished by competing and efficient online marketplaces that operate with lower overheads forcing them to integrate more technology into their business model. Walmart has already taken several steps in the Fintech credit direction. One is the creation of Walmart Pay, a payment app that enables shoppers to transact at the register via QR code. Other methods adopted include a prepaid card plan with Walmart MoneyCard and a money transfer service with Walmart2Walmart.
Global Alternative Credit Trends
As illustrated in the chart below, there has been a surge in popularity in Fintech and Big Tech credit – collectively known as alternative credit – reaching an estimate of 795 billion USD globally in 2019. While alternative credit has been on rise collectively, the data shows that global Fintech credit volumes have declined between 2017-2019 from an estimate of 410 billion to 223 billion USD. One major factor for this decline is due to the greater regulatory developments in China. In the same period, Big Tech credit growth has surged at a more rapid pace than the previous years, rising from an estimate of 197 billion in 2017 to 572 billion USD in 2019.
P2P Lending and Fintech Credit in the U.S.
Interestingly while Big Tech seems to be the dominant player globally in recent years, Fintech credit is much more prevalent in the US, accounting for nearly 89% of the total US alternative credit. Research shows that the Fintech credit market in the US is primarily made up of P2P/marketplace consumer lending with investment coming predominantly from institutional investors rather than individual lenders.
Fintech credit describes credit activity facilitated by online platforms that are not operated by commercial banks. One popular form of Fintech credit is peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, where borrowers are matched directly with investors through a lending platform.
See: Google Pay’s massive relaunch makes it an all-encompassing money app
Traditionally, one's FICO score has been the gold standard of credit bureaus in determining one's ability to open a bank account, obtain a loan, or get a credit card. Now, with the ability to process lots of data at high levels of efficiency thanks to machines, Fintech companies are creating more holistic creditworthiness rating systems that help alternative lenders better assess risks and serve up loans to a segment of the population that traditionally has been shut out of markets.
Prediction for Future
Given Big Tech and Fintech’s competitive advantages with machine learning and AI, I believe that they will play an inevitable role in the future of financial services. This type of competitive edge that Big Tech companies have make them ideally positioned to serve the role of a Techfin, a term coined by Jack Ma describing tech companies that provide financial services with a more customer & technology centric approach.
The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the paradigm shift in the financial technology space. Growing numbers of people consider the adoption of contactless payment as a basic need to prevent the spread of the virus, and I predict the rise of many forms of Fintech innovations like mobile wallets replacing physical wallets.
See:
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House Lawmakers Condemn Big Tech’s ‘Monopoly Power’ and Urge Their Breakups
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China Stops Jack Ma’s $35 Billion Ant IPO From Going Ahead
Given the size, resources and efficiencies of Big Tech and the increasing potential of Fintech, incumbent institutions are likely feeling the heat to re-align their products and services to benefit tech-savvy consumers across the board, not just us Gen Zs. Incumbents like Chase have already taken steps in this direction by investing heavily in their digital space to offer a more unified experience for the customer. As a passionate technology user, I am eager to see what the future has in store.
This article appears as a featured article in NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 3 Dec 2020). 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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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2020 FINTECH DRAFT PITCHING AND DEMO COMPANY WINNERS! |
Walmart to launch fintech startup with partner Ribbit Capital
Bankingdive | Anna Hrushka | Jan 11, 2021
Summary:
- Walmart is creating a fintech startup in partnership with venture capital firm Ribbit Capital, the big-box retailer announced Monday.
- The new venture will "develop and offer modern, innovative and affordable financial solutions" to customers and employees, Walmart said.
- "For years, millions of customers have put their trust in Walmart to not only save them money when they shop with us but help them manage their financial needs," John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S. said in a statement.
The details of Walmart's new fintech startup are scarce. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company did not disclose the name of the new entity, specific services or a launch date.
The retailer said the strategic partnership "will bring together Walmart's retail knowledge and scale with Ribbit's fintech expertise to deliver tech-driven financial experiences tailored to Walmart's customers and associates."
The startup will be majority-owned by Walmart and its board will include Furner, Walmart Executive Vice President and CFO Brett Biggs and Meyer Malka, managing partner of Palo Alto, California-based Ribbit Capital.
See: Amazon, Walmart, the Secret Battle for FinTech Supremacy: Part II
Walmart said its plans to add independent industry experts to the fintech's board and build a management team of experienced fintech leaders. The company also plans to grow the startup through partnerships and acquisitions with fintech companies.
"When we combine our deep knowledge of technology-driven financial businesses and our ability to move with speed with Walmart's mission and reach, we can create and deliver financial offerings that are second to none," Malka said in a statement.
Walmart's intention to expand into fintech is not the first time the retail giant has made moves into the financial services space.
In partnership with Green Dot, the company already operates a prepaid debit card called Money Card, which customers can load with funds and use to make purchases.
Walmart said it will continue to serve customers through its existing financial services products, including Money Card, check cashing, money transfers, installment financing and its Walmart credit card.
Andrew Cosgrove, the former general counsel and chief compliance officer at LendingUSA, said he thinks Walmart's new fintech plans could mean the retail giant is looking to bring its financial services infrastructure in-house.
See: How is Amazon disrupting the financial services sector?
"Green Dot owns all of the interface, the technology and the whole infrastructure," he said, regarding Money Card. "I think they feel like it would be more useful for them to build their own infrastructure, which is what most fintechs are doing."
Ribbit Capital's past investments in top-tier fintechs such as Affirm, Credit Karma and Robinhood also signal the retailer is setting itself up for a successful venture, said Cosgrove, whose former company, the challenger bank Upgrade, is also a Ribbit portfolio company.
"Ribbit Capital is a top-tier fintech investment venture capitalist," he said. "Malka is really well-versed in all areas of fintech. I believe that they're going to be well positioned to create a winning product, whatever the product might be."
Walmart's brick-and-mortar presence could also help the retailer win over the unbanked and underbanked, a demographic that has historically had trouble trusting financial institutions, including online-only fintechs, Cosgrove said.
"The fact that Walmart has bricks-and-mortar locations in many communities will go a long way in building that trust," he said.
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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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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2020 FINTECH DRAFT PITCHING AND DEMO COMPANY WINNERS! |
PwC Report: Canadian Digital Trust Insights 2021: Cybersecurity comes of age
PwC Canada | Jan 2021
Overview
- Accelerated digitization will continue to be one of the key impacts of COVID-19, but as new business models interact with new technologies, cybersecurity strategies across industries will need to shift to meet changing demands.
- As organizations digitize, getting the most value out of every cyber dollar spent will become even more critical, not just because of our current economic climate, but also because every new digital process can become a vulnerability.
- In the next year, many organizations will increase cyber budgets and add full-time cyber personnel, and they’re looking for a mix of soft skills, such as critical thinking and communication, and technical skills, such as familiarity with cloud solutions.
Just decades after coming out from under IT’s wing, the cybersecurity profession has matured. Cyber teams are now armed with the insight and foresight only experience can provide. And the timing couldn’t be better, as many of the industries, organizations and people they serve are at a pivotal moment.
Our findings from the Global Digital Trust Insights 2021 survey of more than 3,000 business and technology executives around the world, including a significant number of Canadian respondents, tell us what’s changing and what’s next in cybersecurity.
See: Remote Working Cybersecurity Checklist
In brief, organizations’ expectations of their security leaders continue to rise. No longer focused just on technology, although it’s very much in the picture, cyber’s real role now and into the future will be strengthening and increasing the resilience of their organizations.
Reset your cyber strategy
Our survey found that 44% of Canadian respondents (40% globally) say they expect accelerated digitization to be a likely outcome of COVID-19. Many are taking on business strategies they hadn’t imagined before, including e-commerce, new markets, new business models, remote working and automation. And 15% of Canadian respondents (21% globally) are changing their core business model and redefining their organizations.
But as we see new business models interact with new technologies, we’re also seeing the introduction of new cyber risks.
Traditional approaches to cyber just can’t keep up with the pace and scale of digitization. And they’re slowing down business strategies and impacting both the top and bottom line. So it’s really not surprising that nearly all respondents (97% in Canada and 96% globally) say their industry’s cybersecurity strategies will shift as a result of COVID-19.
See: Fintech & Cybersecurity: Key Risks and Solutions
Which of the following changes are most likely to be impacts of the COVID-19 experience on cybersecurity in your industry?
| Canada | Global | |
| Greater resilience testing to account for more low-likelihood, high-impact events | 57% | 43% |
| Cybersecurity and privacy implications baked into every business decision or planning | 55% | 50% |
| More frequent interactions between CISO and the CEO or boards | 41% | 43% |
| New process of budgeting for cyber spend or investments | 39% | 44% |
| Better and more granular quantification of cyber risk | 37% | 44% |
| No changes due to COVID-19 | 3% | 4% |
Level the playing field with attackers
Innovation is changing the cybersecurity game, giving new advantages to defenders and allowing them to level the playing field with attackers. Leading organizations are exploring advanced methods to protect their expanding digital ecosystems. But this isn’t optional—increased adoption of cloud, automation and Internet of Things (IoT) systems means organizations need to rethink their defences, as these systems can’t be protected with traditional IT security methods.
See: SWIFT publishes “Follow the Money” report to aid comprehension of money laundering risks underpinning large-scale cyber-heists
According to our survey, the top three cybersecurity approaches that Canadian organizations have implemented and are currently realizing the most benefits from are security orchestration and automation (19%), modern identity and access management (17%) and integrated cloud and network security (17%).
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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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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2020 FINTECH DRAFT PITCHING AND DEMO COMPANY WINNERS! |
KABN North America and Imagine AR Bring Augmented Reality to Liquid Avatar’s Verified Self Sovereign Identity Users
KABN North America | Cara Buckspan | Jan 12, 2021
New services empower Liquid Avatar users to receive & share Augmented Reality social messages, rewards, and commercial offers instantly
TORONTO, ON, VANCOUVER, BC, and ERIE, PA / ACCESSWIRE / ACCESSWIRE / January 12, 2021 / KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp. (CSE:KABN)(OTC PINK:TRWRF)(FRA:4T51) (the "Company", "KABN North America" or "KABN NA") and Imagine AR Inc. (IP)(IPNFF) ("ImagineAR"), are excited to announce the execution of a multi-year licensing agreement to launch Augmented Reality ("AR") immersive experiences integrated with Liquid Avatar. Liquid Avatar empowers users to manage, control and gain value from their biometrically verified Self Sovereign Identity and personal data ownership.
Using ImagineAR's licensed AR SDK and cloud-based studio suite, KABN will deliver a series of dynamic AR interactions to Liquid Avatar mobile app users starting in early 2021. Liquid Avatar users will experience immersive consumer AR-based social, event, educational and information-based messages. Commercial enterprises and media companies will present dynamic measurable interactive AR offers to Liquid Avatar users knowing the consumer is real and verified thereby significantly reducing marketing waste and breakage. The range of opportunities are potentially limitless as Liquid Avatar's Self Sovereign Identity platform is addressable to up to 100% of all online users.
See: KABN North America and Liquid Avatar Unveils New Challenger Banking Program
Liquid Avatar users will soon be able to create and share interactive 3D greetings and messages that are automatically integrated with their Liquid Avatar icons and can be experienced inside the Liquid Avatar app. Liquid Avatar users will also be able to share AR enabled resumes, invitations, event programs, and other information with their social connections. Additionally, Liquid Avatar is exploring interactive digital wallets, which will allow users to easily visualize all their in-wallet verifiable access and identity credentials, like those for healthcare, gaming, travel, financial services, education, ecommerce, and government services.
"Augmented Reality provides a new way to see the world around us and allows KABN to empower Liquid Avatar's known and verified users to take advantage of this interactive technology to engage with friends, family, and other connections," said David Lucatch, CEO KABN. "ImagineAR's platform provides immersive experiences and an effective way for us to instantly deliver AR opportunities to our constituents, therefore creating revenue and value opportunities for our expanding user base."
Exploring other partnership programs, KABN NA and ImagineAR will enable commercial enterprises and media companies to create and deliver fully immersive AR experiences, allowing users to have a 3D view of products and services, whether they are shopping online, or visiting a specific geo-location like a shop, restaurant, etc. Movie trailers, in-shopping and music videos, online concerts and other media productions, menus, schedules, podcasts and other items can "come alive" online or right at the location, along with any special bonuses, rewards, offerings and incentives.
For the travel industry, users can review immersive experiences directly from printed materials, on locations, venues and resorts. The education and information services sector can create and deliver interactive engagement opportunities to convey information and choices.
"We are thrilled to partner with KABN to provide our AR expertise, knowledge and products to their Liquid Avatar users," says Alen Paul Silverrstieen, Founder and CEO of ImagineAR. "KABN's programs provide engagement with known and verified users, creating the type of value our clients are looking for, and our multi-year agreement allows us to quickly ramp up our programs and create long-term value for our stakeholders."
See: KABN’s Liquid Avatar partners with Geon Network for Augmented Reality
Industry Information:
According to FinancesOnline.com's - 45 Vital Augmented Reality Statistics 2020 - Market Share & Data Analysis and Digitalintheround.com's report, 21 Amazing Augmented Reality Statistics [The 2020 View]:
- The AR market was worth roughly $3.5 billion in 2017 and will reach a staggering $198 billion in 2025.
- There will be an estimated 2.4 billion users of mobile AR worldwide by 2023 (Statista).
- Most users of AR are in the 16 - 34 age group.
- 44% of consumers under 40 have used AR technology for shopping (Statista).
- 55% of consumers highlighted music and concerts as an area where AR experience would be of greatest benefit to them (Statista).
- 48% of consumers would likely shop at a retailer that utilizes or offers AR. Meanwhile, 32% of retailers plan to utilize AR within 3 years.
- 61% of consumers prefer to make purchases from sites that offer augmented technology (Invespcro).
- 77% of customers prefer to use augmented reality capabilities to preview product variations such as color or style differences (Invespcro).
- To improve consumer engagement, 67% of media agency executives want more AR and VR ads incorporated into digital marketing campaigns.
- 70% of consumers believe AR technology can help them learn new and professional skills.
If you would like to join our mailing list and receive updates on KABN Systems NA Holdings Corp., please click here.
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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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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2020 FINTECH DRAFT PITCHING AND DEMO COMPANY WINNERS! |
Paypal Backs Expense Management Fintech Divvy to Unicorn Valuation at $1.6 billion
Bloomberg | Jennifer Surane | Jan 5, 2021
Divvy, the financial-technology company that offers corporate cards and expense-management software to small businesses, said it’s now valued at $1.6 billion after raising money from investors including PayPal Holdings Inc.
The $165 million fundraising round, which also included participation from previous backers including NEA and Pelion Venture Partners, made Divvy a unicorn, meaning it has a valuation of more than $1 billion.
See: Global Fintech Ecosystem Report Launch | Top 20 Ranking
Thousands of small businesses have permanently closed during the pandemic after being forced to shut down to stem the spread of Covid-19. For those that remain, accessing capital and gaining control over finances have been paramount. Demand for Divvy’s products has surged during the pandemic, with monthly sign-ups climbing 500% since March, the company said in a statement Tuesday.
“Small businesses are the backbone of the United States and our software plays a significant role in ensuring that they not only survive, but thrive during these conditions,” Divvy Chief Executive Officer Blake Murray said in an email.
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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CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2020 FINTECH DRAFT PITCHING AND DEMO COMPANY WINNERS! |
