Jazzovation | Tim Booth | April 22, 2019

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

Facing disaster, corporate venture capital to undergo key stress test

April 3, 2020

Pitchbook | Alexander Davis | March 24, 2020 After driving much of the venture capital market's hyper-growth in recent years, corporations are poised for a decisive stress test of their zeal for funding startups. Heading into 2020, it wasn't unreasonable to forecast another record year for VC financing involving corporate venture capital arms, such as those of titans Intel, Salesforce and Google. But that was before the coronavirus brought the world economy to a standstill. Turmoil spurred by the global health emergency has given rise to a new mantra for business decision-makers: Hit pause. Inside boardrooms of every stripe, countless investment decisions are either being postponed or subjected to fresh scrutiny. Companies are suddenly on guard as they struggle to take the measure of an unfolding economic disaster, in a challenge of their commitment to venture funding. "In that hunker-down scenario, all spending goes through a rigorous review, obviously," said Pradeep Tagare, head of the $250 million corporate venture fund at UK-based energy company National Grid. "One of the first things that gets hit is the venture capital part of it because that's an easy thing to step back on." Corporate VC departments make strategic bets on markets, innovations, partnerships ...
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Online Partner Event (April 8, 2020): Capital Markets in the Digital Asset Era

April 3, 2020

Crypto Consilium | Austin Hubbell  | April 3, 2020 Capital Markets in the Digital Asset Era", with speakers representing Asset Management, Exchange, Lending, Custody and Data & Technology. It's a 1-hour event that's focused around the current state of the industry and what needs to be done to move digital assets into the mainstream institutional capital markets world. Online Event Date and Time Wed, April 8, 2020 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM EDT Price:  FREE Register on eventbrite:  here Moderator Michael Rabkin, Head of Institutional Sales & Head of Global Partnerships at DV Chain & DVeX Speakers George Bordianu is the co-founder and CEO of Balance Austin Hubbell is the CEO and co-founder of Consilium Crypto Adam Reeds is the Co-Founder & CEO of Ledn John Willock is CEO and co-founder of Tritum Digital Assets Shaun Cumby is the Chief investment officer of 3iQ Register for this event --> Now 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 ...
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Applications OPEN: UNCDF Announces Gig Economy Challenge – Driving Financial Health for Gig Workers

April 3, 2020

UNCDF | Jia Wei Khor | April 2, 2020 APEC Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) launched the Gig Economy Challenge. The challenge is funded by MetLife Foundation through the i3 (Innovate, Implement and Impact) program. In light of COVID-19, gig workers are likely to face new and unforeseen challenges which will affect their financial health. Calling for applications to seek viable solutions for improving the financial health of gig workers in APEC's (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) 21 member economies. If you have a solution, apply now! See:  Malaysia’s potential as the fintech hub for the ASEAN region Why participate? Technical assistance worth $100,000 to pilot your technology product or service Up to $30,000 grant per team as seed capital Opportunity to pilot the solution in Malaysia Access to enabling partnerships, including financial institutions, technology companies and other infrastructure providers Questions? Join the info sessions!  Click below to register 7 April (Tue) 11 am ( GMT +8) 14 April (Tue) 10 am ( GMT +8) 23 April (Thurs) 11 am ( GMT +8) Where can I know more?:  www.bit.ly/GigEconomyChallenge Application Deadline:  27 April 2020 Contact finlab@uncdf.org The National Crowdfunding & ...
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CCI tells feds emergency wage subsidy must be expanded to support Canadian tech

April 3, 2020

Betakit | Meagan Simpson | April 2, 2020 The Council of Canadian Innovators (CCI) and its members are calling on the federal government to make adjustments to the 75 percent emergency wage subsidy, arguing that it does little to support Canada’s tech sector. The CCI is recommending that the government expand the eligibility criteria for the subsidy, which currently requires businesses to have seen a 30 percent year-over-year decline in gross revenue directly related to COVID-19. In a copy of the CCI’s latest submission to the federal government, obtained by BetaKit, the lobby group states, “this measurement is only appropriate for a small number of static, traditional businesses, and is not appropriate for high growth firms in Canada’s technology sector, or SMEs that experience monthly recurring revenue.” “The intention of the wage subsidy program is to save Canadian businesses from making drastic job cuts or going bankrupt so that we can reignite the Canadian economy,” CCI vice-chairman and OMERS founder John Ruffolo said in a statement to BetaKit. “The program as currently outlined seems aimed to make it difficult to apply for, to receive funds, and to attest to the criteria in a timely manner.” See:  How Governments Should Use ...
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Bank On It Podcast: Turning a Funding Failure Into a Win

April 3, 2020

Bank On It podcast | John Siracusa | March 11, 2020 This nugget was pulled from episode 160 from an interview with Brett Crosby,  co-founder & COO of PeerStreet. This nugget is on turning a funding failure into a win. About Brett Crosby: Brett is the co-founder and COO of PeerStreet, a platform for investing in real estate-backed loans. Crosby was previously the director of product marketing at Google, where he co-founded Google Analytics, helped start Google’s mobile advertising business and recently ran the global marketing teams responsible for the growth of Chrome, Gmail, Docs and Drive. 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 ...
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How Governments Should Use Crowdfunding to Battle the Economic Impact of #Socialdistancing

April 2, 2020

Crowdfund Insider | Karsten Wenzlaff and Ronald Kleverlaan | March 31, 2020 The Crowdfunding industry is well aware of what economists call externalities – the fact that behavior of some people has an unintended impact on other people. Positive externalities can be observed on the Crowdfunding platforms every day due to the willingness of people to join their forces. These days, everyone becomes aware of the impact other people have directly on our lives, health, financial situation, liberties. Crowdfunding platforms were very quick in meeting the challenge of channeling funds to those places where they are needed. Governments are now pumping billions and most likely trillions of dollars through the banking system into the economy. The alternative finance industry should not be ignored when creating the right response to the COVID-19 pandemic. RESILIENT CAPITAL:  How Regulation Crowdfunding Stood up to the First Weeks of Coronavirus What could governments do? They could support the donation-based platforms by reimbursing transaction fees, because essentially it will allow more donations to flow. They could also facilitate partnerships between municipalities, regions, and platforms that encourage local donations to local projects. For instance, the platform Helfen.Berlin which collects donations for companies in exchange for gift certificates is ...
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How payments can adjust to the coronavirus pandemic—and help the world adapt

April 1, 2020

McKinsey & Company | By Philip B, Reet C., Olivier D., Tobias L., and Marc N  | March 2020 The challenges are immediate, with long-term implications for global, regional, and local economies—and for the payments industry itself. Here’s what to expect. Any projection of industry performance rests on assumptions about overall economic activity. The outlook largely depends on the spread of the virus, the public-health response, and the effectiveness of the fiscal, monetary, and broader public response. A relatively optimistic scenario, taking into account these variables, assumes that the virus will be contained after an economic lockdown of two to three months in Europe and the United States. Under this scenario, global GDP would decline in 2020 by 1.5 percent, which we estimate would result in, at most, a decline in payments revenues of around $165 billion, some 8 percent lower than they were in 2019. See:  All businesses seeing 30% drop in revenue due to pandemic will be eligible for 75% wage subsidies: Trudeau Cross-border consumer-to-business transactions are likely to drop. One-quarter of the total decline in revenues in our analysis is driven by cross-border payments, led by a 25 to 30 percent decline in cross-border C2B transactions. This ...
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Accenture: Fintech, Cybersecurity and Methods to Handle Threat

April 1, 2020

FintechZoom | Jung Min-seo | April 1, 2020 What’s the cybersecurity risk panorama for fintechs in 2020? Accenture’s perception offers some readability The tempo of digital transformation throughout the monetary panorama continues to quicken. In such an atmosphere the digital or cyber risk proposition evolves quickly, making it important to take care of the best requirements of know-how and preparedness, and hold updated with the impression of cyber tendencies. In response to Accenture’s 2019 Ninth Annual Price of Cybercrime report, monetary providers incurred the best cybercrime prices amongst all industries studied in 2018. See: On this analysis, Accenture explains: “As industries evolve and disrupt the present atmosphere, threats are dramatically increasing whereas turning into extra advanced. This requires extra safety innovation to guard firm ecosystems. The following value to our organisations and economies is substantial – and rising.” See:  Smart Cities Offer Promises and Concerns Over Privacy Throughout all industries, Accenture discovered that data theft is the most costly and quickest rising consequence of cybercrime. Nonetheless, it famous that there are a number of drivers behind the evolving world cybersecurity risk for all sectors: Evolving targets: knowledge is now not the one goal in response to Accenture. Moderately, corporations worldwide ...
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Eight virtual banks transforming Hong Kong’s fintech sector

April 1, 2020

Fintech Magazine | By Matt High | March 31, 2020 We take a closer look at the eight innovative virtual banks that are digitally disrupting Hong Kong's financial services industry using technologies like AI, machine learning and Big Data With a national GDP of $341.4bn, Hong Kong is a rapidly growing economy and a centre of innovation and digital transformation. The special administrative region's history is rooted in the financial sector due to its low taxation, legislation that favours free trade and a currency pegged to the US Dollar. Despite the financial sector in Hong Kong being dominated by incumbents, it is seeing a rapid rise in fintechs, digital banks and new propositions that are driven by the latest technologies. The rise of virtual banking Last year the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced that eight virtual banks had been selected to receive licenses to operate in the country. Below we look in more detail at those virtual banks. Ant SME: A subsidiary of Ant Financial, the virtual bank is reportedly going to target the Hong Kong SME market, and is dedicated to providing inclusive banking solutions to smaller businesses in the nation’s economy. Insight Fintech: A joint venture between smartphone ...
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Better Buy: Square vs. American Express

April 1, 2020

Nasdaq Markets | Brian Withers | March 31, 2020 Amid the market volatility, two financial services companies held investor presentations in the past several weeks. Digital payments ecosystem Square (NYSE: SQ) and financial services company American Express (NYSE: AXP) provided updates on the current market situation, and, more importantly, their long-term growth plans. Both companies play in the financial services sector, but they are at different points in their growth cycles and appeal to different kinds of investors. Let's dive into the details and make a determination as to which is a better buy today. See:  Growth in Canadian FinTechs Having Impact on Canada’s Banking Landscape The companies at a glance American Express was founded more than 150 years before Square, but it is only three times Square's size in market capitalization. For dividend and value-minded investors, the financial stalwart boasts almost a 2% yield and incredible bottom-line profits. But Square is growing faster and has more growth opportunity. The case for Square Square's stock has gotten slashed recently as small shops are suffering under shelter-in-place and closure orders for non-essential businesses. In its investor day meeting, company management indicated payment transactions have declined in March, lowered its guidance for the ...
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