Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Payments, Transfers, Rewards
How Fintech Is Set To Transform Payrolls For The Better?
May 16, 2023
Image: Pixabay/mohamed_hassan
Proper payroll management is critical for the health of a business or company, and errors can have a huge impact on employees' satisfaction and, ultimately, productivity. As a result, businesses go to all lengths to ensure their payroll is as efficient as possible.
While technological advancements in the last few decades have seen payroll management transform radically for the better, fintech is set to transform it to a much higher degree. This article looks into how fintech is set to achieve this and what you can expect in the future.
Understanding Fintech
Fintech is an acronym for financial technology and refers to the integration of technology in the financial sector. Fintech technologies have one thing in common; they aim to streamline the financial sector by reducing business costs and accessibility to financial systems.
While fintech has been around for years, its adoption has not been as fast as anticipated. Still, its uptake has seen a huge spike due to the effectiveness of the technologies when integrated with other technologies, such as blockchain.
When applied to payroll management, fintech is an excellent fix for traditional problems, as shown below.
Pay on Demand
Today's society is leaning more towards an on-demand lifestyle. The entertainment industry is a good example of this shift; people are dropping cable for on-demand entertainment sources like Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify.
Employees are also looking for options that can allow them to access their earned money on demand. Traditionally employers have to wait for a week, two weeks or a month to get their paycheck. With fintech technology, employers can give employees access to cloud-based payroll solutions through mobile apps.
With the app, an employee can log in at any time and location, see how much they have earned, statutory deductions and the amount they can withdraw at that point.
Automated Payroll Systems
Not everyone may feel that having employees access to their pay is a good idea. Some may prefer that they stick to the good old payday payroll. If you are in this group, fintech can help you automate the process, eliminate errors, make the process much faster, and ensure compliance.
If your state laws require that you provide pay stubs to your employees, ensure you issue them one with every pay period. You can use this easy-to-use paystub generator to create these documents by entering the data processed by the fintech-based payroll system in three simple steps.
Access to Financial Management Tools
If employees have money in their pockets, their morale and productivity will be high. The opposite is also true. One way of ensuring employees have money in their pockets is adequate remuneration.
Providing adequate remuneration may not be enough if you do not match it with some form of financial education. Most fintech payroll platforms come with personal financial management tools that help your employees plan their budget, track finances, and offer financial literacy resources to help employees make better financial decisions.
This way, your employees will have a high chance of making better financial decisions and avoiding financial-related stress that could affect their productivity.
Data Security
Data beaches are among the most significant concerns for businesses with vast amounts of sensitive data. With the payroll having employees' names, contact information, social security numbers and bank information, its database is a prime target for cybercriminals.
Fintech platforms have come with robust data security measures thanks to the integration of blockchain technology in their development. This means all the data stored through fintech technologies is safe from unauthorized access.
With blockchain technology, a hacker would need to hack into all computers where the data is stored to get anything out of it, of which the chances are almost zero.
Mobile Wallet Integration
The traditional payroll involves a written check which the employee deposits in the bank or a direct bank deposit. But preferences for access to funds are changing, with an increasing number of Americans having an e-wallet as their preferred means of storing cash.
With fintech platforms, you can automate employee compensation directly to their e-wallets for easier access and convenience. E-wallets have seen increased popularity with cryptocurrency but are making their way into mainstream finance as a popular way of holding money in a safe space.
Final Words
The convergence of payroll management and fintech holds great promise for the future of payroll management. By embracing the technology, you will enjoy the benefits listed in this guide and stay ahead of the curve as other companies catch on.
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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Affirm Partners with FICO to Enhance Credit Scoring for BNPL Loans
PaymentsDive | Caitlin Mullen | May 10, 2023
Image: Freepik/pch.vector
Affirm, the buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider, is partnering with FICO to build a unique credit scoring model that incorporates BNPL loans into credit and lending decisions.
Three key takeaways:
- Initiative to Improve BNPL Reporting: Affirm is the only BNPL provider that currently shares positive and negative loan information with credit reporting agencies. The company plans to enhance the credit scoring model in partnership with FICO to allow for better reporting and understanding of BNPL loans in the wider borrowing context.
- This initiative aims to address the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's concerns about the lack of information being provided in the BNPL space, ensuring these loans are reported to credit reporting agencies.
See: Empowering the Next Iteration of Consumer Finance
- Financial Performance: For the fiscal third quarter ending March 31, Affirm reported a loss of $205.7 million, a wider loss compared to the same quarter in the previous year, despite a 7% increase in revenue to $381 million. This loss is attributed to a $52 million rise in tech and data analytics spending, and a $35 million charge tied to employee layoffs in February.
- Growth and Expansion: Affirm is actively pursuing international expansion, demonstrated by the purchase of U.K.-based BNPL firm Butter Holdings for about $15 million earlier this year. Despite challenging funding conditions, Affirm has increased its maximum annual percentage rate on interest-bearing loans from 30% to 36%. This move resulted in over half of the quarter's interest-bearing gross merchandise volume coming from merchants that adopted the higher limit.
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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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Tipalti Raises $150 Million to Fuel Global Expansion and Payables Automation
Tipalti | Release | May 15, 2023
Image: Unsplash/shane
Tipalti, the global payables automation platform, has secured $150 million in growth financing from JPMorgan Chase Bank and Hercules Capital, Inc.
- This funding comes after a successful Series F round in 2021, bringing the company's total funding to over $550 million. The new investment will be used to fuel further growth, invest in product innovation, and provide support to its customers.
- With transactions increasing by 50% in 2022, totaling an annualized payments volume of $43 billion, Tipalti's cloud-based platform simplifies the accounts payable process and enables its 3,000 mid-market customers across 196 countries to easily pay suppliers.
See: Signals by Mastercard: Trends to Watch in the Future of Payments
- Tipalti has expanded its executive team with the addition of three new executives. These new hires demonstrate Tipalti's commitment to excellence at every level and will contribute to the company's continued growth and success.
- Perla Stoeckert, Chief Compliance Officer, brings more than 15 years of experience in financial services to the role.
- Alice Davidson, General Counsel, has over 15 years of experience as a Securities/M&A lawyer, specializing in fintech, paytech, and crypto.
- Des Cahill, Chief Marketing Officer, has a successful track record of helping B2B SaaS software companies scale and achieve successful exit strategies.
- The partnership with JPMorgan Chase Bank also strengthens the relationship between the two organizations, as the bank has been instrumental in processing billions of dollars worth of supplier payments on behalf of Tipalti's customers since 2016.
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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Bank of Canada Announces Consultations for a Potential Canadian Digital Dollar (Until Jun 19)
Bank of Canada | Release | May 8, 2023
Join the Conversation: Bank of Canada Seeks Public Input on Potential Features of Digital Canadian Dollar
- The Bank of Canada is seeking to design a digital Canadian dollar that caters to the needs of Canadians. To achieve this, the Bank is conducting an online consultation to gather input from the public. The Bank is particularly interested in understanding which features are most important to Canadians, including their opinions on related topics such as the usage of the digital currency, necessary security features, and concerns related to accessibility and privacy.
- how people would likely use it
- what security features are important
- what concerns you have about accessibility and privacy
See: Digital Canadian Dollar: The Required Steps for Canada
- While the Bank of Canada plans to continue providing bank notes for those who prefer them, it's possible that bank notes may become less common in day-to-day transactions in the future.
- This could potentially exclude some Canadians from participating in the economy.
- Additionally, the widespread use of private cryptocurrencies or central bank digital currencies issued by other countries could threaten the stability of Canada's financial system and the role of the Canadian dollar.
- To counteract these potential issues, the Bank is exploring the possibility of issuing a digital Canadian dollar, which would offer Canadians an official, secure, and stable digital payment option.
- If a digital Canadian dollar is issued in the future, the Bank will continue to provide bank notes for those who want them. Cash isn’t going anywhere. At this time, a digital Canadian dollar is not needed. And any decision to issue one rests with Parliament and the Government of Canada.
- The Bank plans to release a report summarizing the results of the ongoing consultation later this year.
- The following link to the consultation page can be embedded in your stories: https://bit.ly/429uV0M.
See: Digital Dollar and Tensions Over Transaction-Monitoring
- For more information on the Bank of Canada’s work on a digital Canadian dollar, see https://www.bankofcanada.ca/digitaldollar/.
- The public consultation will be accessible on the Bank’s website until June 19, 2023, at 23:59 Pacific time.
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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Signals by Mastercard: Trends to Watch in the Future of Payments
Mastercard Content Exchange | April 28, 2023
Image: Mastercard Signals
Asset tokenization is expanding the range of assets that can be exchanged, including loyalty points, data, digital goods, rights, and new currencies. Tokens enable the exchange of alternative currencies, physical assets, personal data, and ownership rights, allowing fractionalization of expensive items. The tokenization of financial and private market assets could bring liquidity to the investor class, with the market potentially reaching $24 trillion in financial assets alone by 2027. Tokenization has the potential to revolutionize how value is created and exchanged, leading to a broader set of payment options for consumers and opportunities for new business models.
- Tokenization's expansion into a wider range of real-world assets in the next five years will revolutionize our perception of value and payment methods. This transformation will lead to increased payment options for consumers and create opportunities for banks, digital players, and merchants to develop innovative business models to facilitate new value exchanges.
See: Top 10 Trends Reshaping Banking for 2023
Programmable payments are emerging as a solution to the challenges of managing complex payments. APIs, smart contracts, and artificial intelligence enable business logic to be coded into payments, creating new efficiencies and delivering heightened customer experiences. Commercial use cases include supply chain transactions and royalty payments, as well as expanding existing business models like pay-per-use or leasing. However, cyber attacks are a significant threat to programmable payments, and new security capabilities must evolve to bring trust in an automated way. Governments are also exploring programmability in money itself via central bank digital currencies.
- By 2030, programmable payments are expected to shift from specialized applications to a standard practice in the industry. Integration of messaging and additional services like cybersecurity and Know Your Customer verification will enhance payment options with intelligence and contextual relevance. This will result in substantial cost savings in operational processes such as preprocessing, reconciliation, and exception handling, while also delivering faster and improved service to customers in both commercial and consumer transactions.
Next-gen 'ubiquitous' digital wallets will become essential for managing identities and assets. They will consolidate various services and activities, acting as a single point of control. Analysts predict 4.4 billion unique digital wallet users by 2025, with payments from digital wallets accounting for 54% of global e-commerce transactions by 2026. The competition between tech giants, super apps, and global banks for wallet dominance is increasing. Tomorrow's wallets will serve as command centers for daily life, offering seamless experiences and managing everything in one place.
- In the future, super wallets will go beyond storing card and account information and become the central hub for managing all aspects of our daily lives. With intense competition and regulatory scrutiny, no single wallet provider is expected to dominate the market. Banks and digital players in this industry will succeed by offering enhanced functionality and seamless experiences, fulfilling the vision of a comprehensive all-in-one wallet.
See: Progress Stablecoin Legislation or Risk the Financial Future
Connected finance refers to the integration of financial services across various environments, including digital, physical, and virtual spaces. It enables universal access to payments and other financial services through open banking and consumer control of data. Open banking allows third parties to create innovative banking and payment solutions based on customer financial data. The adoption of connected finance is growing rapidly, with the expectation of a $116 billion market size by 2026. It offers frictionless experiences, such as buy-now-pay-later options, insurance at checkout, and AI chatbots for money management. Messaging apps like WhatsApp are also enabling P2P payments, contributing to the expansion of social and conversational commerce. The market for financial services through other applications is projected to double by 2030. Overall, connected finance presents the opportunity for consumers to access financial services anywhere, and it benefits banks and merchants through partnerships and increased options for customers.
- The potential of connected finance is unfolding as digital commerce expands. Instant access to financial services at scale empowers consumers to bank and pay from anywhere, through any channel. Banks can leverage partnerships for wider reach, while merchants can enhance their commerce experiences with more options.
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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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How to Integrate a Payment Gateway in an App
April 21, 2023
Image: Unsplash/Vadim Artyukhin
Making purchases through a mobile application is one of the priority areas of development for many companies. After all, the number of users choosing mobile commerce is constantly growing. Confirmation of this can be found in Statista data.
They point out that in the US, about 60% of shoppers buy through mobile apps. This trend encourages business owners to look for optimal payment solutions in such programs. The first step on this path is a payment gateway. We offer to learn what it is and how the integration takes place.
What is a payment gateway?
Paying through a mobile application is quite complex and involves several stages. For everything to work properly, a reliable channel is needed between the payment processing system and the order page (customer portal or website). This is what the payment gateway is for.
It ensures safe and fast transmission of the buyer's payment and personal data from the resource where the payment is made to the corresponding payment processing service. The latter can be a company (if it has its own system for processing transfers), an independent supplier (Stripe, PayPal, etc.), or a financial institution (Bank-Acquirer).
Different types of technology should be considered separately. Currently, entrepreneurs can choose a ready-made option or a special payment gateway.
How is the integration of payment gateways?
Integrating the solution into the mobile application can be performed in 2 ways. It all depends on the chosen technology.
Special payment gateway
In this case, the channel is developed by a specialized company for a specific business from scratch. As part of the service, special APIs are created to integrate the payment gateway with all important applications. Such a solution is integrated with external payment processing systems through ready-made APIs. They are provided by the payment processing provider. This is usually done by acquiring banks. The advantages of this method include:
- full integration with corporate-type systems, as well as applications (including outdated ones);
- the possibility of adding new options if necessary and developing the gateway;
- special functionality (possibility of implementing all necessary payment methods, including reimbursement and payment in cryptocurrency);
- reliable protection of payment data;
- high speed of operations;
- complete minimization of risks (operational and security-related);
- no fee is charged for the payment gateway provider's services.
However, when choosing such a technology, you need to remember the operation of the infrastructure designed to store payment data. The customer is responsible for support and configuration in this case.
Ready payment gateway
Customers who prefer this technology can count on easier and faster integration. After all, in this case, a ready-made payment gateway is used, provided by one of the payment processing providers (for example, Authorize.Net or bank-acquire). The presented solution provides APIs that are already ready to use. Thanks to them, plug-and-play integration becomes possible.
It can include analytical tools, accounting software products, and all known e-commerce platforms. However, certain difficulties may arise in the process of integration of a ready-made payment gateway. They concern, in particular, outdated applications. The process of integration with them will be expensive and long. In addition, the user will need to periodically pay a fee for using the service.
Image: Unsplash/Mika Baumeister
Conclusion
Payment gateway development and integration is something that deserves special attention. After all, mobile commerce is an important stage in the development of almost any business. You can ensure this by looking at the statistics presented by Statista.
See: FTP Report: B2B Payments: A Major Fintech Opportunity to Solve Paper-based Payments and Processes
It says that by 2025, mobile commerce sales may increase to 700 billion dollars. This means that more and more users are choosing this way of shopping. The seller's task under such conditions is to provide comfortable conditions for this. Therefore, choosing a high-quality solution and performing integration according to standards is worth it.
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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Ryan Reynolds Backs Canadian Fintech Firm Nuvei (and Tells a Story)
Yahoo Finance | | Apr 17, 2023
Image: Twitter
"I know as much about fintech as I did about gin or mobile a few years ago."
- Canadian payment technology company Nuvei Corp. (NVEI.TO) has a new celebrity investor. Actor and investor Ryan Reynolds has invested in payments firm Nuvei, although details about the size and scope of the investment have not been disclosed.
- Nuvei also launched an advertising campaign featuring Reynolds promoting the company alongside CEO and chairman Phil Fayer. This investment follows Reynolds' recent sale of Mint Mobile, a budget wireless service provider he partly owned, to T-Mobile for US$1.35 billion. Reynolds also has investments in Welsh soccer club Wrexham AFC and American Aviation Gin, which was purchased by Diageo in 2020 for US$610 million.
See: Nuvei closes $833-million IPO, making history as TSX’s largest tech sector IPO
Ryan Reynolds said in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box:
Nuvei is impressive. The leadership team is exceedingly intelligent and hard-working and it’s about time a Canadian company got the type of attention American tech companies do. The investment has been two years in the making and that “my job is storytelling. America gets a lot of credit for innovation and I think there’s something quite funny and interesting and a fun story to tell about Canada flexing a little bit. This is already a multi-billion dollar global company with an amazing story to tell.
https://twitter.com/VancityReynolds/status/1647933296024723456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1647933296024723456%7Ctwgr%5E04fc15f51e805bb72eab0cb3fc5fcc1de9944eae%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fca.finance.yahoo.com%2Fnews%2Fryan-reynolds-investment-canadian-fintech-firm-nuvei-153745573.html
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Yahoo Finance via Fortune | | Apr 18, 2023
Short-seller Accuses Nuvei of Lack of Transparency—and it’s not the first time
- Just a day after fintech firm Nuvei announced that actor Ryan Reynolds had taken a stake in its business, a short-seller hit the company with a report urging investors to sell their shares.
See: Stablecorp Relaunches QCAD: the Canadian Dollar-Based Stablecoin
- The report by hedge fund and short-seller Spruce Point Capital Management accused Nuvei of a lack of transparency, acquiring a U.S. company that had exaggerated its growth, and being linked to failed crypto exchange FTX. Spruce Point said in its report that it would short Nuvei’s stock.
- Spruce Point's founder and chief investment officer, Ben Axler, suggested that Reynolds may have been given his stake in exchange for promotional duties.
- The report also raised concerns about Nuvei's $1.3 billion acquisition of Paya, alleging that Paya's growth faced many hurdles and that Nuvei's leadership was undisciplined with spending.
- Investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said that the report left unanswered questions and was grasping for irregularities without citing material and provable issues.
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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