Rojin Nair, Advisor
June 1st, 2021
At Incyub8 Inc, Rojin is focusing on nurturing and guiding various national and international start-[...]
Category Archives: Payments, Transfers, Rewards
BIS Update: 2021 Survey Results on Central Bank Digital Currencies, ‘Gaining Momentum’
BIS | Anneke Kosse and Ilaria Mattei | May 6, 2022
Most central banks are now exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and more than a quarter of them are developing or running concrete pilots, according to the latest survey from the Bank for International Settlements.
The fifth annual report on central bank engagement with CBDC – Gaining momentum – Results of the 2021 BIS survey on central bank digital currencies – shows that, among the 81 respondents, work on retail CBDCs, in particular, has moved to an advanced stage.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the emergence of stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies have accelerated the work on CBDC, especially in advanced economies, which put more emphasis on financial stability as a motivation for their involvement.
See:
BIS Report: Can CBDCs be designed to help financial inclusion?
Ottawa to review Crypto, Stablecoins and CBDCs; Budget promises more financial cops
Globally, more than two thirds of central banks consider it likely or possible that they will issue a retail CBDC in the short or medium term. Central banks see the limited operating hours of current payment systems and the length of current transaction chains the most significant pain points of cross-border payments that could be alleviated with CBDCs.
Many central banks are considering a role for the private sector, for example in customer-facing activities, and are also exploring interoperability with existing payment systems.
Continue to the full article --> here
Download the 25 page PDF report --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Lending Loop Launches ‘Loop Card’ for Small Business Cross-border Transactions
Betakit | | Apr 21, 2022
Lending Loop has launched Loop to provide a wider range of financial services for e-commerce businesses. The company’s first product is a corporate card specifically for cross-border transactions. The card allows companies to purchase in multiple currencies without fees. It also provides an extended repayment grace period, and credit limits based on sales rather than personal assets, which is often the case when entrepreneurs look to access corporate cards through banks.
In pivoting from lending to a broader financial services play, Loop has entered an increasingly competitive market. In the United States, well-capitalized players like Brex, Ramp, and Jeeves have created corporate cards tailored to startups. And in Canada where the market is still fairly bare, up and comer Float has attracted more than 1,000 customers in the last year alone.
See: Fintech Card Space is Growing: Brim Financial, Float, Caary Capital, Jeeves, Neo Financial
However, Pastoll is adamant that Loop’s product is different from the others, specifically targeting Canadian-based e-commerce businesses that are doing business internationally.
“Our product is specifically built for this customer segment that is doing business cross border,” said Pastoll. “And we’re understanding the two key things: working capital and needing to move money seamlessly and cost-effectively around the world. Those are like core tenants that are important to e-commerce businesses.”
Businesses can spend and make payments in CAD, USD, GBP and EUR currencies without foreign exchange rate conversions and fees. The Loop Card also provides 55 days of interest-free spending, which the startup argues is the longest interest-free period in the industry.
See: Fintech Fridays EP46: Making Business Borderless: International Payments and Partnerships
“The reason we’re offering that value prop is because we listened to e-commerce founders and heard, ‘I need the ability to basically push my expenses down the road so I can grow my business,’” said Pastoll.
Continue to the full article --> here
View the Lending Loop press 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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Before receiving your salary in crypto you should consider these things
Carbert Waite LLP | Kevin Stenner and Mihai Beschea | Mar 30, 2022
If you have been following the word of sports, you have likely heard of many brand-name athletes taking a portion of their salary in a crypto currency. Another interesting recent example is the major of New York City, Eric Adams, who recently announced he would receive compensation in cryptocurrency. Although this type of compensation agreement is still unique and new in the workplace, it is becoming more mainstream and carries with it several advantages over fiat currency BUT you should consider these things first:
Minimum Wage and Cryptocurrency
First, in Alberta “an employer must pay an employee at a wage rate that is at least the minimum wage established by regulation.”This minimum wage is currently $15 per hour in Alberta. The problem is with the volatility. If the price of the crypto suddenly fell, there is a real risk that this will have caused the employer to have paid the employee less than minimum wage. This would put the employer off-side employment standards legislation and open them up to unnecessary risk.
See: Crypto Payments Report 2022: How digital currencies are revolutionizing commerce, corporates and culture
Crypto Earnings Must Be Paid in Canadian Dollars
Second, employers in Alberta must pay employees in Canadian dollars such as cash, cheque or bill of exchange. Since discretionary bonuses are not wages and so do not have to be paid in Canadian dollars. Accordingly, an employee can be paid a certain amount in Canadian dollars with a discretionary bonus paid in crypto. From an employee perspective, taking a portion of your salary in cryptocurrency, such as a bonus, may be the safest way to transition into this pay scheme.
Crypto Earnings Tax and Deductions
Third, just because an employee is being paid a portion of their compensation in crypto, neither they nor the employer are exempt from paying tax on that amount in Canadian dollars. Employers will still be responsible for all source deductions in Canadian dollars and employees will still be responsible for reporting employment income in Canadian dollars.
Continue to the full article --> here
CNBC | Goh Chiew Tong | Apr 11, 2022
Want to be paid in crypto? Here are the rewards — and the risks
There’s no denying that with the Great Resignation, workers are more empowered to seek what they want from their jobs. Other than flexibility and better benefits, a new workplace perk is gaining popularity — the option of being paid in digital currency.
According to a global poll by financial consultancy deVere Group, cryptocurrencies could become more commonplace in salary negotiations with younger workers.
More than a third of millennials (those aged between 26 and 42) and half of Generation Z (25 and below) would be happy to receive half their salary in bitcoin or other forms of cryptocurrencies, revealed the study.
See: Crypto-tax primer in Canada
Another survey, by SoFi at Work and Workplace Intelligence of 800 U.S. employees, showed that 42% of them would like to receive non-fungible tokens as performance rewards.
“Offering to pay your employees with Bitcoin can be a way to attract what we might call ‘future-thinking workers’, especially if you’re in certain industries, like FinTech,” he added.
In addition to the benefit of 'speedy payments' be careful for crypto price volatility (double-edged sword) and heightened cyber-risks.
When it comes to cryptocurrency tax laws, the country you’re working in matters. Some countries are “very lenient” in that regard, said Jarvis. For instance, Portugal is known as a crypto tax haven for its 0% tax on bitcoin. “When you consider how much these assets are increasing over time, they are significant gains to be made if you’re saving on that tax side of the equation,” Jarvis added.
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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Crypto Payments Report 2022: How digital currencies are revolutionizing commerce, corporates and culture
Checkout.com | Jess Houlgrave | Apr 5, 2022
Checkout.com surveyed 3,000 businesses and 30,000 consumers worldwide to help us look more closely at the use of cryptocurrency in payments today and the key implications of this shift for merchant businesses.
The outcome of this research is our Demystifying Crypto report, a comprehensive look at how both consumers and merchants in 11 countries are evaluating opportunities to adopt digital currencies.
We found several areas of innovation that stood out across commerce, corporates and culture. Here is a selection of the main takeaways from the report.
1. Commerce
There's been a sharp rise in people wanting to use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. That’s up from less than 30% last year, marking a notable shift in how consumers are thinking about using cryptocurrencies.
- That growth looks set to continue this year, with 40% of 18-35-year-old consumers citing their desire to experiment with using crypto as a payment method.
See: Ignite Accelerator (ex-Tendermint) launches with $150 million for Web 3 projects
Curiosity amongst businesses around whether or not they should accept crypto payments is also increasing. Those who've already taken the leap are seeing impressive results.
- Over 80% say offering crypto has attracted new customers and they've observed a reduction in chargebacks.
- This success has led 77% of businesses that accept crypto to double down, iterating and experimenting with different coins to see which has the most benefits in attracting more customers and operational efficiency.
Trust and understanding of crypto particularly remain a significant barrier for many consumers. Consequently, a full-scale Web3 revolution looks highly doubtful. Instead, it's more likely that we'll continue to see a convergence of Web2 and #Web3, powered by those building the bridges between the two worlds.
2. Corporates
Businesses still have concerns about how regulation will impact the crypto space. It's therefore not surprising that a lack of a clear regulatory framework is the number one reason businesses cite for not using crypto.
See: Meta’s WhatsApp has launched a crypto payments U.S. pilot
- 65% of C-level executives surveyed believe that Web3 will change the B2C dynamic as consumers become creators or owners (of data).
- 69% of the businesses surveyed said the speed with which crypto payments can be made and settled has the potential to revolutionize their business models.
- 76% say accepting payments in crypto enables real-time revenue sharing while enhancing transparency to facilitate back-office reconciliation.
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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Support NCFA by Following us on Twitter!Follow @NCFACanada Not to be missed! Registration NOW OPEN! |
UK Embedded Finance (Fintech Infrastructure) Fidel API Bags $65 million Series B
TechCrunch | Mary Ann Azevedo | Apr 6, 2022
Financial infrastructure startup Fidel API has raised $65 million in a Series B funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures.
The London-based company provides identity, data and payments products that it says gives developers a way to capture consent permissions and “securely” connect payment cards to a service or application.
“With this infrastructure, developers are able to create highly contextualized and event-driven user experiences at the point of purchase,” it claims. Fidel API is industry agnostic, with customers ranging in the “hundreds,” from startups to giants such as Google, Royal Bank of Canada and British Airways. Developers use the company’s tools to power a range of features, including digital receipts, omnichannel attribution, loyalty and rewards, expense management and personal finance management.
See:
Canadien blooming. The fertile “Valley” for finance innovation FLOW: OB, CAN Trends, Beyond OB: BaaS + Embedded Finance, tunl
McKinsey Global Banking: Revenue pools moving to customer-ownership with embedded digital financial services
The raise is another example of how infrastructure companies in the fintech world continue to be resilient despite an apparent slowdown in global funding overall. The ability to empower other companies in the world of financial services is proving to be lucrative as well as attractive to investors. Just last week, Cross River Bank landed a $620 million investment that pushed its valuation to more than $3 billion. In February, blockchain infrastructure startup Alchemy announced that it had closed on a $200 million Series C1 equity round that valued the company at $10.2 billion.
In the case of Fidel API, Subrata says the company has built the infrastructure that can help developers create “programmable money.”
“Our role in the ecosystem is to enable other developers to build what we call programmable experiences on top of existing money flow that can be quite archaic,” Subrata said. “What we have done is build a modern connectivity layer that sits on top of the payment systems on the global net core networks. And then we expose that through a modern API for other developers to innovate on top of.”
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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Research: ECB publishes report on payment habits and attitudes as part of digital euro project
ECB | Release | Mar 30, 2022
The European Central Bank (ECB) published today the findings of its commissioned research on citizens’ payment habits and their attitudes towards digital payments in order to gain a deeper understanding of user preferences as part of the digital euro project.
Based on the responses of focus groups and online communities across all euro area countries, the report shows a strong preference for payment methods with pan-European reach and universal acceptance in physical shops and online. Users favour payment solutions that are convenient, fast and easy to use. Participants valued the possibility of instant and contactless person-to-person payments, regardless of the platform or device. Focus group respondents also wished for a one-stop-solution that would incorporate all the current payment options into one system.
See: A European approach to DeFi regulation
Safety and security were a concern among respondents, who sought guarantees against fraud and hacking, as well as secure and reliable payment authentication methods. Biometric methods of payment verification, such as those involving iris scan technology, were widely supported by participants, while flexible and adjustable privacy settings were seen as desirable.
“We want the digital euro to add value for end users and merit their confidence,” says ECB Executive Board member Fabio Panetta, Chair of the High-Level Task Force on a digital euro.
“A digital euro could enhance European payments by providing a universally accepted and secure solution that facilitates contactless and instant payments.”
Continue to the original release --> here
Download the 128 page PDF 'Study on New Digital Payment Methods' --> 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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Rich Turrin on EUs digital euro vision, U.S. eCash and China’s e-CNY + Shanghai Lockdown
Rich Turrin | Cashless | Apr 1, 2022
The EU's vision for a digital euro takes shape while the US looks at eCash
First, let me congratulate the EU for actually surveying citizens to get an idea of their concerns for the digital euro. The Fed should watch and learn from the European Central Bank (ECB)!
The most shocking thing we learned is that privacy is, amazingly enough, not "top of mind" for most users, many of whom feel that much of their purchasing is already tracked. That was a real shocker for me and apparently for the ECB. Still, it shows the sad state of digital privacy.
Interestingly, free and immediate contactless payment seemed to be a hit, provided it was universal. Users don't want to worry about whether or not it would be accepted. They have had their fill of being told: "Sorry, we accept Visa, not Mastercard." The good news is that universal acceptance is precisely the experience a CBDC national currency can deliver. More on the ECB digital euro user survey
See: Will The ECASH Act be the Answer to Privacy and Virtual Currency in the U.S.?
What makes this so interesting is that in the same week that the EU launched these results, US Senators from the Financial Services Committee published a draft law proposing privacy-protecting eCash!
ECash is tokenized money that does not get transported on a network. It is not a CBDC! ECash is a token on your phone or offline card and can be used as we do cash with no risk of being tracked. I think it's a great idea and may just compliment a CBDC. CBDCs would cover higher value transactions and eCash lower day-to-day expenses. This looks almost exactly like the e-CNY's anonymous payment for low value (RMB 2000 max) transactions.
eCash is designed for privacy. Lack of AML/KYC is its "Achilles heel."
eCash is not without flaws. Suppose you lose your digital wallet; it's gone, just like cash. The biggest issue is that eCash requires no KYC or AML. I don't see this as a flaw, in fact, I love it! Still, I am sure this will cause a battle with regulators who will deem eCash unacceptable. Still, I think it advances the digital dollar discussion. More about the eCash act and PDF of the full act in this post here.
Fintech Fridays Podcast: Special guest, Richard Turrin, Author of Innovation Lab Excellence
What makes this so interesting is that the US is investigating a privacy-protecting eCash system, while the ECB is getting actual survey results saying that privacy is not the number one concern. I find the divergence interesting. It makes me wonder if the nation addicted to privacy vampire Facebook is as concerned about privacy as a vocal minority makes them out to be? In the EU, we now know that this is not a primary concern. Sadly, for the US, we have no idea.
The Digital Yuan is used for far more than buying coffee and has potential for reserve currency
I back this statement up with a post earlier in the week that shows how the e-CNY is being used for transactions over US$ 100,000 in trials in China. The PBOC is clearly signaling that e-CNY will be used to carry large sums of money that WeChat and Alipay were never designed to move. Moreover, it proves that the e-CNY can do far more than buy coffee.
Rich Turrin at FFCON20: AI Implementation in China: A Day in the Life in Shanghai
This is a big question but has to be asked. While the yuan certainly has many flaws, is it "good enough?" The US dollar was once considered "risk-free," but it now has real questions surrounding its usability following widespread global sanctions. Can you use it if sanctions hit? This is why as a "risk management exercise," many nations are looking for dollar replacements, and the yuan just might be "good enough." It's not a question of loving the yuan, so much as that there are few alternatives, and most countries import goods from China. So why wouldn't they convert some of these purchases to yuan to reduce dollar dependence?
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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