Advisory experts have backed the peer-to-peer lending sector to become a mainstream investment class after Covid-19.
Open banking has long been pedalled as the future of fintech, but which companies are the leading providers of the service in the UK?
Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: P2P, Lending, Digital Bonds, BNPL, Private Credit
FundThrough Commits $10 Million to Help SMBs Overcome Shutdown
FundThrough Blog | Jun 26, 2020
TORONTO – FundThrough, North America’s leading invoice funding solution for small businesses, has announced it will provide $10 million in free funding for clients as the economy reopens from COVID-19. The company announced it as part of a broader initiative to help small businesses, who invoice their customers and wait to for invoice payments, get back on their feet in the wake of the COVID-19 economic shutdown and has expedited this capital commitment for SMBs looking for a practical source of funding.
The Toronto-based Fintech company will provide working capital to small businesses in exchange for outstanding customer invoices, based on the creditworthiness of the payor. Clients that sell goods and services to larger customers and need working capital quickly are encouraged to apply.
“We are proud to announce this initiative to help kick start the North American economy and ensure that companies get paid immediately for the work they have completed and the products they have delivered,” said FundThrough Co-Founder and CEO Steven Uster. “Large companies often stretch out their payment terms for their suppliers. We are levelling the playing field so that suppliers no longer have to act as a bank for their customers.”
FundThrough will provide the funding through its next-generation invoice factoring platform, Velocity. Once onboard, clients can upload their outstanding customer invoices, update their account and payor information, and quickly receive their funding request. The quick influx of cash could provide companies with the working capital they need during a period of uncertainty. Factoring also provides a unique alternative to traditional funding methods.
See:
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The Intersection of Small Business, Tech and Our Financial Ecosystem is More Important Than Ever
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NCFA Open Letter: Government should collaborate with Fintechs
“One of the biggest challenges for small businesses will be to get paid for the first projects that they complete as the economy reopens,” said Deepak Ramachandran, FundThrough co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. “We’ve already seen large companies extend their payment terms from 30 or 60 days to 90-120 days. So, if a supplier completes an order and has to wait four months to get paid, it may feel a lot like they are shut down once again. FundThrough can get them their money within 48 hours of invoicing, so they can keep working on the next order.”
Small businesses seeking funding for their outstanding invoices can visit FundThrough.com for more information.
About FundThrough
FundThrough is a leading player in the fintech small business working capital space. Its tech-enabled invoice funding platform has re-imagined invoicing so that businesses who sell to larger customers can get paid instantly. FundThrough enables business owners to eliminate “the wait” associated with payment terms. For more information, go to www.fundthrough.com.
View: original release
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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Advisory experts back P2P lending sector to become mainstream investment class
Advisory experts have backed the peer-to-peer lending sector to become a mainstream investment class after Covid-19.
Mark Turner, managing director, regulatory consulting at Duff & Phelps, said the pandemic presents an opportunity for the sector to prove itself.
“I think there is the opportunity for P2P lending to be seen as a mature, mainstream asset class and especially if it can prove itself through this crisis as a sector that can manage risks effectively and generate good returns for investors, then I think the sector could really come of age,” he said.
Similarly, Frank Wessely, partner at Quantuma, said that the P2P lending sector will be able to demonstrate it is a much more robust and secure asset class once it emerges from this pandemic, as long as there no further platform failures.
See: European fintech lending industry to hit USD 9.6 billion in 2020
“I think Covid-19 will be doing the industry a favour in terms of allowing it to show it can survive a pandemic of this nature and still provide market beating returns to investors,” he said.
I think because it’s so extreme and unique, the opportunity is there for the sector to show it’s here to stay.
“Market cycles are generally caused by market factors, but Covid-19 is more extreme. It just happens to be a pandemic on this occasion and shows how vulnerable markets are to non-financial threats.
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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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Here are the UK’s 5 leading open banking providers
AltFi | Aisling Finn | Jun 10, 2020
Open banking has long been pedalled as the future of fintech, but which companies are the leading providers of the service in the UK?
Open banking has become one of the most popular adaptations for both fintechs and big finance alike.
Open banking was first introduced as a concept when the EU decided the banking industry needed greater competition and wanted to expand the opportunities offered to fintechs.
Since the introduction of the EU's Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) in January 2018, open banking has revolutionised the way millions of people manage their finances and use their data.
Following the introduction of PSD2, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ordered the biggest banks in the UK to share their APIs with other banks and third-party providers which helped the fintechs on this list to thrive.
The ability to access all your accounts and integrate non-banking financial services too has proved increasingly popular over the last few years, with the likes of fintech giants Monzo, Revolut and Starling all offering some form of the technology.
Open banking’s main goal is to increase the transparency of the banking industry, so without further ado, and full transparency, here are the UK’s leading open banking providers.
See: Plaid celebrates 12 months in Europe with an eye towards Open Finance
Bud
Who started it?
Bud was founded in 2015 by Ed Maslaveckas and George Dunning, initially beginning its life as a financial wellbeing platform.
The platform recently appointed hedgefund heavyweight, Lord Stanley Fink, the former CEO of the hedge fund firm the Man Group, as the Chair of its board of directors.
How is it funded?
Bud counts Goldman Sachs, 9 Yards Capital, HSBC and Investec as investors and also won a slice of the UK government’s £2m rental recognition prize back in 2018.
In February 2019, the fintech bagged $20m from HSBC and Goldman Sachs to help it double in size and expand into new markets.
Who are the customers?
One of Bud’s primary customers is HSBC, who also happens to have invested a significant amount in the fintech.
In December 2019, Bud extended its partnership with HSBC and signed a three-year global deal with the bank to give access to Bud’s open banking, API and data.
Last October, Bud shifted away from larger firms to focus more on transactional data for smaller firms and introduced a developer portal for SMEs to access Bud’s sandbox environment.
See: Open banking review faces ‘worrying’ delay as pandemic drives Canadians to fintech
Plaid
Who started it?
Plaid was founded in 2012 by Zach Perret, who recently spoke at the AltFi Digital Summit 2020, and William Hockey, who has since left his role as chief technology officer and now sits on Plaid’s board of directors.
The San Francisco-based startup recently celebrated its first anniversary of being in Europe following its surprise launch of financial management app Emma.
How is it funded?
In January 2020, it was revealed that Visa would shell out $5.3bn for the Silicon Valley startup, although the deal is yet to be completed.
Prior to the sale, Plaid had previously received several strategic investments from Visa and Mastercard.
Who are the customers?
Plaid connects to over 15,000 financial institutions across the US, Canada and Europe and 80 per cent of the biggest fintechs rely upon Plaid’s API infrastructure to operate.
The open banking powerhouse has helped the likes of financial management app Emma, Venmo, trading platform Robinhood, Monzo and TransferWise.
See: Is this the new face of Generation Z banking?
Tink
Who started it?
Tink was founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 2012 by Daniel Kjellén and Fredrik Hedberg and is now offered in 17 markets across Europe and Latin America.
How is it funded?
In January 2020, it was revealed that Tink had just closed its largest funding round to date, totalling €90m.
The Swedish fintech has raised over €200m to date and has secured several strategic investments from PayPal, including most recently when PayPal injected an undisclosed amount to help the fintech conquer Europe.
Who are the customers?
Tink recently revealed a strategic investment from payment giant PayPal that would see it’s technology available to some customers across all countries in the European Economic Area (EEA)
Tink integrates with more than 2,500 financial institutions, reaches over 250m customers and processes more than 10bn transactions a year.
See: Explore Canadian Fintechs in Canada on FintechCanada.io
Yapily
Who started it?
Yapily was founded by former Goldman Sachs investment banker, Stefano Vaccino in 2017.
Vaccino was fascinated by the social impact of open banking and the ability it holds to bring financial wellbeing and knowledge to the masses.
How is it funded?
To date, Yapily has raised $18.4m, including a $13m Series A round primarily led by investment firm Lakestar, which has invested in the likes of Spotify, Skype and Revolut.
The firm also completed a $5.4m seed round in May 2019 which was led by HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, which has invested in fellow fintechs SumUp and Penta, and LocalGlobe, an investor in the likes of Tide, Cleo, Robinhood and Transferwise.
Who are the customers?
Yapily counts Intuit QuickBooks and GoCardless as customers, as well as several other fintechs and firms and has recently been selected as an open banking provider for IBM.
The fintech currently has 80 per cent account coverage across Europe and 99 per cent coverage here in the UK, with the hopes to expand even further across Europe in the coming months.
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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, artificial intelligence, 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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Innovate Finance in talks for P2P lenders to receive cheap BoE funding
Peer2Peer Finance UK | | Jun 3, 2020
Innovate Finance is representing peer-to-peer platforms in talks about non-bank lenders receiving access to cheap funding from the Bank of England, Peer2Peer Finance News can reveal.
The industry body has argued that without access to the Bank of England’s Term Funding Scheme – which is currently only available to banks – many non-bank lenders have been prevented from delivering the government’s emergency loan schemes.
“We’ve made the case to the government that it’s difficult for P2P lenders to provide emergency loan schemes because they don’t have the same access to cheap funding,” said Iana Vidal, head of policy and government affairs at Innovate Finance.
“I think P2P has a huge role to play in delivering the emergency loan schemes and we’ve been trying to get that across to the government.
See: European fintech lending industry to hit USD 9.6 billion in 2020
“Part of the purpose of the schemes is to get finance out quickly to SMEs and that’s where fintech and P2P comes into play.
“We think (fintechs) are integral to the conversation and have been saying for a number of weeks that there are some really innovative companies and we should be utilising their technology to support the wider measures out there providing finance to businesses and consumers during this time.
“And we’re fully aware that these interventions from schemes cause customers that usually would have been spread out across many lenders to just use a few institutions. We’re aware of that impact from a P2P viewpoint and generally and are monitoring it.”
P2P lending platforms have welcomed news of the talks.
“It would be brilliant,” said David Bradley-Ward, chief executive of Ablrate.
“Getting access to the cheap funding like banks and levelling the playing field with them would be great. I’ve always been an advocate of alternative finance lenders being on the same level as banks. If anything, banks’ technology is terrible.
See: Shopify expands capital lending program to help Canadian merchants weather COVID-19
“I’d be up for something like this, but the ultimate issue is suddenly giving P2P lending platforms quick access to finance wholesale would remove the need for retail investors and it wouldn’t be P2P anymore.”
Daniel Rajkumar, managing director of Rebuildingsociety, said that having access to this type of funding would help to fight unfair competition in the marketplace, which at present, is his platform’s largest threat.
“It’s difficult to compete without being able to get access to the credit in the same way banks can get access to capital,” he said.
“It’s really important to get access to Bank of England funding options to remediate unfair competition.”
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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An alternative to high interest debt: KOHO pilots new feature that allows Canadians early access to their CERB benefits
Koho Release | Brittany Bell | May 27, 2020
TORONTO, May 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KOHO, Canada’s leading challenger bank, today announced it is piloting a new Early Payroll feature that will help those under financial strain pay their bills and make ends meet. KOHO’s Early Payroll pilot will grant users free access to $100 of their CERB payment before the scheduled payday. KOHO will not charge fees or interest. The company hopes this will provide a cushion that many Canadians could use right now to help pay bills and necessary expenses, and avoid harmful loan alternatives.
“The economic impact of COVID was not equally distributed,” said Daniel Eberhard, Founder and CEO of KOHO. “A lot of lower and middle income Canadians are vulnerable right now. The KOHO team did an amazing job putting this together so quickly. We hope it helps.”
In 2016 the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada released a report on payday loans that revealed the average cost of a $300 loan (for two weeks) is $63. That means 21% of the money you borrow is automatically eaten up by fees.
See: Shopify Balance Brings Banking and Cash Flow to Merchants
In March, KOHO partnered with the Canada Revenue Agency to allow Canadians to receive their Canada Emergency Response Benefits (CERB) seamlessly through the KOHO app. With a continued focus to support their community, KOHO is now piloting a new Early Payroll feature. The pilot is intended to help alleviate cash flow pressures caused by COVID-19 by offering free early access to users’ CERB funds.
Now live in the latest version of the KOHO app, KOHO users who have their CERB benefits being directly deposited into their KOHO account will be eligible to receive $100 three days prior to their next scheduled government benefit. The $100 will automatically be debited from the user’s account when they receive their next CERB direct deposit, making the process simple, adaptable, and with no strings attached.
View the original release --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Introducing Plaid Exchange
Plaid blog | Niko Karvounis & Jesse Dhillon | May 20, 2020
Plaid Exchange
The financial ecosystem is undergoing an unprecedented digital transformation due to new realities brought on by COVID-19. Consumers and businesses have turned to fintech to manage their finances in record numbers. Digital transformation that was expected to take years is now predicted to take place over a matter of months. Now, financial institutions everywhere must be prepared to meet their customers’ rising demand for digital connectivity.
See: With Plaid Acquisition, Visa Makes a Big Play for the ‘Plumbing’ That Connects the Fintech World
Today, Plaid is launching Plaid Exchange to accelerate consumer-permissioned data access strategies for financial institutions. As fintech adoption has grown, so have the needs of financial institutions that must now manage unprecedented customer connections across thousands of fintech apps. Plaid Exchange gives financial institutions, from banks to wealth management firms, an open finance platform that includes critical tools required to manage the secure and reliable data connectivity their customers’ financial lives demand, today and for years to come. At the heart of this platform is the ability for consumers to maintain control and transparency into where and how their financial information is permissioned and shared, increasingly important as more people rely on a variety of digital financial tools to manage their financial lives.
Over the past year, we communicated with over a hundred financial institutions to understand their evolving priorities and deliver a solution that fully encompasses what a financial institution needs to implement scalable API-led data access rooted in user transparency and control. With Plaid Exchange, financial institutions can bring an API solution to market in as little as 12 weeks. Implementing Plaid Exchange also means saving on the costs associated with standing up an API, such as building tools and programs to manage developer testing, implementation, and risk management.
Developed with shared security, transparency and reliability needs across the ecosystem in mind, Plaid Exchange is an API platform for financial institutions that provides the connectivity to:
See: Microsoft And Plaid Should Target Small Businesses (Not Consumers) With Money In Excel
- Establish token-based API connectivity. Financial institutions can leverage tokenization to maintain connectivity, and help ensure even more reliable integrations with the 2,600+ apps on the Plaid network today.
- Optimize infrastructure load. With a bi-directional Plaid Exchange integration, financial institutions benefit from smarter scheduling and load management for data updates.
- Build one integration for open finance needs. Plaid Exchange is a solution for the digital financial ecosystem stakeholders; it’s open finance in a box, so financial institutions can integrate with multiple data partners through the Plaid Exchange integration.
- Align with key connectivity standards and principles in the industry. As an active member of FDX and multiple industry standards bodies, we’ve designed Plaid Exchange to reflect key principles around access, consumer control, transparency, and security.
- Enable new control tools for consumers. Plaid Exchange includes the ability for financial institutions to easily build a consumer control center that gives their customers more visibility and enhanced control over how their financial information is shared and where their accounts are connected.
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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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Shopify Balance Brings Banking and Cash Flow to Merchants
Digital | May 20, 2020
The huge e-commerce company also unveiled buy now, pay later and local delivery tools at its annual conference.
Need to Know
- At Shopify’s annual conference, Unite, the e-commerce platform announced a number of new features.
- Shopify Balance Account is a “one-stop-shop” account for small business owners and a feature several employees are referring to as Shopify’s bank.
- The online platform also announced Shop Pay Installments, Fulfillment Network expansion, and Local Delivery products.
- The conference emphasized the importance of strong digital tools and local commerce in COVID-19 retail climate.
See: Shopify displaces RBC to become Canada’s most valuable company
Analysis
E-commerce giant Shopify announced a number of new tools and programs at its online Reunite event on Wednesday, the biggest of which is Balance, a banking account tailored to the particular needs of small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Balance, which will be made available to Shopify merchants in the US later this year, is a one-stop-shop within Shopify’s platform admin allowing sellers to track cash flow, pay bills, and monitor expenses. According to a press release from Shopify, 40% of merchants are currently using personal accounts for some business needs; Balance aims to provide tools that are designed for the needs of small business owners, where personal accounts might fall short.
Shopify Balance will also provide merchants with a physical or digital banking card, the Shopify Balance Card, which will allow merchants to make purchases or withdraw cash from an ATM, and a Rewards program offering benefits such as cash back and discounts. Shopify Balance will have no monthly fees and no minimum balance.
See: Shopify Launches Rebuilt POS to Offer Flexibility Post-COVID
Also announced at Reunite was Shopify’s buy now, pay later, option, Shop Pay Installments, which exists within the company’s Shop Pay tool and lets merchants offer customers flexible financing options. Shopify joins a number of merchants and businesses offering buy now, pay later financing, including Visa, which announced a partnership with Splitit earlier this year. The tool, which will also be available later this year, will be launched with a partner — though Shopify did not specify whom.
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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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