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
He Asked His Team How to Avoid Layoffs. Their Response Thrilled Him
Entrepreneur | Stephanie Schomer | Dec 2, 2020
Before making a tough decision that impacts your team's future, Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price has a simple suggestion: Ask them for advice. It worked for him.
The year 2020 was rocky. Millions of people were laid off or furloughed. The pain may continue into the near-term future — but even once our lives stabilize, this won’t be the only time an economy stumbles. Companies will again face this choice: Eliminate a great team that’ll be difficult to rebuild, or somehow absorb massive financial losses.
See: Welcome to FintechCanada.io! Free Listing and Networking Opportunity
Dan Price says there’s a third way, and he proved it out this year. The solution, he says, is to act as a team. “Your team is so much smarter than you,” Price says. “Mine is. Give power to your people, be honest and democratic. They will find solutions that you can’t see.”
Price made waves in 2015 when he took a million-dollar pay cut to institute a $70,000 minimum wage for his employees, so he isn’t the kind of boss who is quick to do layoffs. But he was feeling pressure this year. His company, Gravity Payments, processes credit card payments for more than 20,000 small businesses — and as their revenue disappeared at the onset of the pandemic, so did Price’s.
“We were losing $1.5 million a month,” he says. “We had three months before we’d be out of business.”
He explained this to his team of 200, and they offered a solution: Instead of layoffs, let them anonymously volunteer for pay cuts. “I thought it was crazy,” Price says. “I figured we’d waste a week’s worth of time to learn it wouldn’t work.”
He was wrong. His team volunteered nearly half a million dollars a month off their salaries. Some offered their total pay; others offered 50 percent; others offered 5. (Price capped all contributions at 50 percent.) “It extended our runway to somewhere between six and 12 months,” he says. By late summer, he was confident enough in Gravity’s future that he paid back all employees.
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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The future of European payments: Strategic choices for banks
McKinsey & Company and Euro Banking Association | Nov 24, 2020
Payments and accounts services are at the core of banks’ offering to customers. They contributed about a third of European banks’ total revenues in 2019 (Exhibit 1), and represent banks’ leading source of customer interactions.
Banks’ payments revenues have grown steadily at about 3 percent per year over the past six years. However, some specialist payments providers—processors, acquirers, schemes, and others—have achieved double-digit growth rates over the same period (Exhibit 2). This suggests that banks’ traditional role at the centre of the payments ecosystem may be coming under challenge.
High ambitions, significant challenges
Almost two-thirds of the executives and experts who were surveyed as part of a joint effort undertaken by McKinsey & Company and the Euro Banking Association between November 2019 and November 2020, believe that banks will continue to be the leading players in European payments over the next five years.
See: Fintech Fridays EP46: Making Business Borderless: International Payments and Partnerships
However, survey respondents and interviewees identified a number of challenges faced by banks. These included increasing competition (especially from tech companies and fintechs), the rise of technologies that could allow other payments providers to come between banks and their customer relationships, the lack of flexibility in banks’ operating models, the constrained revenue environment, rising customer expectations, and the complex regulatory outlook. Executives also identified gaps in the capabilities and practices needed to grow their payments business, especially in technology, organisational agility, and monetisation models.
The outlook for the European payments sector
On the stock markets, payments specialists outperformed the overall European banking sector between January and November 2020, with a shallower decline and a bigger rebound. Interviewees noted that banks continue to be affected by mounting credit losses and low interest rates; payments specialists stand to gain from the shift to digital commerce and electronic payments; fintechs have opportunities to target a broader pool of customers and capitalise on their cost advantages, but are more exposed to structural factors because of the narrower focus of their customer relationships; and big tech companies have ample resources to invest but may come under increased scrutiny from governments and regulators.
Despite the uncertainties, the interviewees saw the outlook for payments as broadly positive. Most felt the crisis of 2020 would not damage their strategic position, and could even improve it.
The strategic choices facing banks
In defining their strategy for each customer segment and step in the payments value chain, banks can choose to lead, accelerate, follow, or reduce their payments footprint, depending on their wider aspirations and starting point.
See: Banks have lost a quarter of the payments franchise to new players
As technological advances, evolving customer behaviour, new market dynamics, and changing regulatory agendas converge with the after effects of the pandemic, the early 2020s may become an inflection point for payments. Despite the uncertainties of the current environment, this could be the moment for banks to secure the growth of value in their payments business over the next cycle—and to come together with other stakeholders to solve sector-wide challenges and capture opportunities.
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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Payments Startup Stripe in Talks for Funding at $70 Billion Valuation or More
Bloomberg | Katie Roof and Scott Deveau | Nov 24, 2020
Private financial technology business Stripe Inc. is in talks to raise a new funding round valuing it higher than its last private valuation of $36 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.
The valuation being discussed could be more than $70 billion or significantly higher, at as much as $100 billion, said one of the people, who asked not be identified because the matter is private. That would make it currently the most valuable venture-backed startup in the U.S., according to CB Insights.
Stripe’s software, which competes with Square Inc. and Paypal Holdings Inc., is used by businesses to accept payments. According to its website, Stripe’s customers include Amazon.com Inc., Salesforce.com Inc., Lyft Inc. and Instacart Inc.
See:
Lightspeed and Stripe Partner to Launch New Payments Feature
Stripe, the world’s most valuable private fintech company, is getting into lending
The company has benefited during the pandemic with more shoppers turning to e-commerce. It’s gone on offense during the downturn this year, starting a card-issuing service for U.S. clients and agreeing to acquire a Nigerian startup to expand in Africa.
Brother Founders
Irish brothers John and Patrick Collison founded Stripe in 2010. The duo sold their first company for $5 million when they were teenagers and are now worth about $4.3 billion each, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
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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GSMA Report: Global State of Mobile Money Industry Report 2019
GSMA | Nov 25, 2020
GROWING AND GLOBALISING
2019 marked a major milestone for the mobile money industry: the number of registered mobile money accounts surpassed one billion.
Reaching the one billion mark is a tremendous achievement for an industry that is just over a decade old.
The mobile money industry of today has a host of seasoned providers with a broad set of operational capabilities, a full suite of products and a global reach.
With 290 live services in 95 countries and 372 million active accounts, mobile money is entering the mainstream and becoming the path to financial inclusion in most low-income countries.
See: Task Force Analyzes Role of Fintech in Accelerating SDGs
Mobile money services are available in 96 per cent of countries where less than a third of the population have an account at a formal financial institution.
INCREASING USER TRUST AND RELEVANCE
Overall growth in transaction values has been impressive in the past 12 months.
Total transaction values grew by 20 per cent, reaching $690 billion in 2019, which means the industry is now processing close to $2 billion a day (over $1.9 billion).
This growth and scale is a positive signal for the industry as it demonstrates higher levels of customer trust, greater relevance for users and the capacity of mobile money to digitise an increasing amount of capital.
The industry continues to invest in distribution networks and sustainable agent income.
The mobile money industry has created opportunities for entrepreneurs in emerging markets to become agents.
The number of agent outlets has almost tripled over the last five years, reaching 7.7 million.
A mobile money agent has seven times the reach of ATMs and 20 times the reach of bank branches. In rural and hard-to-reach areas, mobile money agents have had a transformative impact on financial inclusion.
See: Google and Gates Foundation to help spread digital payments in developing countries
Meanwhile, agents are seeing their monthly incomes rise substantially with commissions that are not taking away from investment in other areas of the mobile money business.
THE CORE TRENDS OF 2019
- A growing number of providers are becoming commercially sustainable
- The industry continues to invest in distribution networks and sustainable agent income
- More providers are shifting to a ‘payments as a platform’ model
- The digitisation of payments has reached new heights
- More value is circulating in the mobile money system than exiting
- The industry is increasingly interoperable and integrated
- The regulatory landscape is evolving
INCREASING USER TRUST AND RELEVANCE
Overall growth in transaction values has been impressive in the past 12 months.
See: Bank of Canada Speech: Money and Payments in the Digital Age
Total transaction values grew by 20 per cent, reaching $690 billion in 2019, which means the industry is now processing close to $2 billion a day (over $1.9 billion).
This growth and scale is a positive signal for the industry as it demonstrates higher levels of customer trust, greater relevance for users and the capacity of mobile money to digitise an increasing amount of capital.
Download the full 72 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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Google Pay’s massive relaunch makes it an all-encompassing money app
The Verge | | Nov 18, 2020
It (Google Pay) will include tap-to-pay, peer-to-peer, personal finance aggregation, customizable deals, and even full banking services
Today, Google Pay for both Android and iOS is relaunching with a giant array of new features. It turns the app from something that most people think of as a tap-to-pay card repository or peer-to-peer payment system into a much more ambitious service. The new app begins rolling out across the United States today.
The new version of the app will have three new tabs:
“Pay,” which includes peer-to-peer payments as well as your transaction history using tap-to-pay; “Explore,” which will be a place where Google will offer deals and discounts; and finally, “Insights,” which will allow you to connect your bank accounts to get a searchable overview of your finances.
You will even be given the option to allow Google Pay to crawl your Gmail inbox and your Google Photos account to look for receipts. Google will use OCR technology to auto-scan them and integrate them into your finance tracking.
In 2021, Google will partner with some banks to directly offer fully online checking and savings accounts inside Google Pay — a service Google is calling “Plex.”
Not all of these services are strictly new for Google, but this will mark the first time they’re unified into a single app. In doing so, Google Pay is now arguably a direct competitor to a wide array of other apps and services, including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, PayPal, Venmo, Square Cash, Intuit’s Mint, Simplifi, Truebill, Shop, and also online banks like Ally. That is a lot of companies that will have to contend with Google making a high-profile push into their market.
See: Google and Gates Foundation to help spread digital payments in developing countries
All of the advanced features are opt in, so if you prefer to simply use it as it currently exists today (as a tap-to-pay app on Android or peer-to-peer payments on the iPhone), you should be able to do that. Even so, this is a huge expansion of capabilities and data collection in a Google app that is likely to raise privacy concerns.
Google tells me that it has a policy to not sell or share data to third parties and that it will not “share your transaction history with the rest of Google for targeting ads.” It will also have a first-use experience that will present a series of privacy prompts and settings options. Unlike Apple Pay, Google’s servers will have access to your data so it can be analyzed and made searchable for you in the app — though the company assures that it’ll be strongly encrypted.
A stranger — and perhaps telling — privacy option is that those who want to get personalized deals will have the option to agree to a three-month “trial” of allowing Google to analyze their transaction history to customize their offers. After the three months, they’ll be prompted if they want to keep using that part of the service.
Let’s dig into what we know about each aspect of the service.
Insights
The rightmost tab in Google Pay is the place where the app will provide a lightweight version of apps like Mint and Simplifi that presents much of your financial information in one place. Google’s take on it is called “Insights,” and as you might expect, it heavily integrates both search and Google’s ability to process data with its algorithms.
See: Fintech Fridays EP46: Making Business Borderless: International Payments and Partnerships
After you connect your banking and credit accounts, Insights will begin to show you reports of your spending and saving as well as upcoming bills. It does this by scanning through your transactions rather than needing you to manually enter or categorize things. It works with standard checking, savings, debit, and credit cards.
Plex
In 2021, Google will launch a new banking service called Plex. It will let you handle basic checking and savings in the app, engaging directly with an online bank. This isn’t Google directly offering banking services, to be clear. Instead, Google will essentially let some banks use Google Pay as their banking app.
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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DOJ files antitrust lawesuit challenging Visa’s $5.3 billion acquisition of Plaid
TechCrunch | Jonathan Shieber | Nov 5, 2020
The Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit challenging Visa’s proposed $5.3 billion acquisition of Plaid .
News of the DOJ’s investigation first broke last month.
“By acquiring Plaid, Visa would eliminate a nascent competitive threat that would likely result in substantial savings and more innovative online debit services for merchants and consumers,” the DOJ wrote in its lawsuit.
The deal would violate Section 2 of the Sherman Act “and must be stopped,” the DOJ wrote in its filing, published by Bloomberg Law.
Read: With Plaid Acquisition, Visa Makes a Big Play for the ‘Plumbing’ That Connects the Fintech World
In a statement, Visa said it “strongly disagrees” with the DOJ’s “legally flawed” arguments.
“This action reflects a lack of understanding of Plaid’s business and the highly competitive payments landscape in which Visa operates,” the statement read. “The combination of Visa and Plaid will deliver substantial benefits for consumers seeking access to a broader range of financial-related services, and Visa intends to defend the transaction vigorously.”
“As we explained to the DOJ, Plaid is not a payments company. Visa’s business faces intense competition from a variety of players – but Plaid is not one of them. Plaid is a data network that enables individuals to connect their financial accounts to the apps and services they use to manage their financial lives, and its capabilities complement Visa’s. Together, Visa and Plaid will deliver better digital experiences and more choice for consumers in managing their money and financial data. Visa is confident that this transaction is good for consumers and good for competition,” the statement added.
As the Justice Department argues, Visa’s monopoly power in online debit is protected by barriers to entry and expansion. New challengers to Visa need connections with millions of consumers to attract merchants and need connections to thousands of merchants to attract new consumers, the DOJ said.
DOJ lawyers pointed to Mastercard’s inability to seize more than a quarter of the online debit market as a sign of Visa’s continued dominance. “Mastercard has neither gained significant share from Visa nor restrained Visa’s monopoly,” the lawyers wrote.
See: Visa’s digital dollar concept opens a door to central bank currencies
Visa also set up technical barriers by entering into restrictive agreements with merchants and banks to prevent competitors from growing their share of the online debit market.
“These entry barriers, coupled with Visa’s long-term restrictive contracts with banks, are nearly insurmountable, meaning Visa rarely faces any significant threats to its online debit monopoly. Plaid is such a threat,” according to the DOJ.
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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Fintech Fridays EP47: How to Change the World: Risk culture and Work-life Balance
NCFA Canada | Nov 6, 2020
JOIN US ON A STORYTELLING JOURNEY EVERY FRIDAY.
EP47: How to Change the World: Risk culture and Work-life Balance
Guest: MICHELLE BEYO, Founder and CEO, Finavator (LinkedIn)
Bio:
Michelle Beyo is Founder & CEO of Finavator INC, Money2020 RiseUp Alumni, Women in Payments Global Console & Award Committee Member, FinTech Strategic Advisor, CPPO Member, Open Banking Initiative Canada FinTech Co-Chair and Associate Producer of The Social Movement Amazon Prime Docu-Series.
Michelle started Finavator as she is passionate about payments & financial inclusion. Her background in Telecoms, E-commerce, Prepaid and Loyalty programs nurtures her passion for the world of tech. She has 20 years of extensive industry experience driving innovation across the retail and payments industry. Her most recent roles were as Chief Client Officer for a Blockchain startup focused on consent based data sharing, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing at InComm, and Director of Loyalty Solutions for Aeroplan Division of Shop Local program. Her company, Finavator (www.finavator.com), helps Enterprise and Fintech companies present their customers with innovative payment and digital services. Finavator's team has experience and expertise in Payments, Open Banking, Prepaid Solutions, ISO 20022, NEO Banks, E-Commerce, Affiliate Marketing, Micro Loans, Rewards and Loyalty Solutions.
About Finavator
Finavator (www.finavator.com), helps Enterprise and Fintech companies present their customers with innovative payment and digital services. Finavator's team has experience and expertise in Payments, Open Banking, Prepaid Solutions, ISO 20022, NEO Banks, E-Commerce, Affiliate Marketing, Micro Loans, Rewards and Loyalty Solutions.
About this episode:
Michelle Beyo, Founder and CEO of Finavator joins Fintech Fridays host Manseeb Khan who talk about taking risks, celebrating success and finding work-life balance. They talk about innovation during crisis and the need for Canada to adopt Open Banking and how companies that aren’t creating 50/50 diverse teams are leaving money on the table. Join us for an action packed episode that will have you participating in a sprint triathlon next year.
Subscribe and tune in each Friday to check out the latest movers and shakers in fintech. Listen to more podcasts here:
Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3
Fintech Friday Transcript of Episode 47: Michelle Beyo, Finavator
Intro: Welcome to fintech Friday's a weekly podcast brought to you by the National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association of Canada and partners. Covering all things fintech, blockchain, AI and alternative finance.
Manseeb Khan: [00:00:12] Hey Everyone Manseeb Khan here, thank you for tuning into another fantastical episode of the Fintech Fintech Friday's Podcast. My guest today is Michelle Beyo. Michelle, thank you for dropping by. I'm super excited for having you on.
Michelle Beyo: [00:00:50] Yeah, I'm I'm excited to be here. And I created a word that I guess is doing pretty good out there, called Finavator, I just smashed fintech an innovation together.
Manseeb Khan: [00:01:03] I love that. So tell me. So tell me more about not only the word Finavator, but your company as well?
Michelle Beyo: [00:01:10] Yeah, sure. So I started Finavator last July and largely started it because my background's pretty diverse, did six years in telecom, eight years in shopping, online shopping, three years and prepaid, one year in blockchain, and took all of that experience and have gone out on my own to create a boutique fintech consultancy called Finavator.
Manseeb Khan: [00:01:34] Oh, awesome. So what made you want to actually get into consultancy? The business itself? You know, you have like just honestly going through your LinkedIn, you have so much experience. I didn't I honestly know where to start. So I was like, I'm just going to let her kind of take over and just go from there. How did you like how did you get started? Like, what made you what did you like, go on, like hiking. Like you saw a tree went Finavator. Like how did this idea hit you?
Michelle Beyo: [00:02:04] Yeah, so, you know, I think it took a little longer. I was at FinTech and I went to Money 2020, and it was my fourth year there in twenty seventeen. And just Money 2020 is one of those conferences that you go and you're just awe-inspired to all of the innovation and technology and things around the world that are coming out to help consumers. And I came out of there and I think it was my first intro to blockchain and I ended up finding a course at Ivy that was called fintech innovation. And it was the first of its kind or mastering fintech. And I ended up getting into that course, getting the company I was at to pay for half of it. And I just got there. It was a four day, 80-hour pre-read. And I ended up with all the SVPs of the banks learning about digital currency, blockchain, fintech crypto. And I was just like floored. I'm like, this is the future of finance. And I, I just fell in love with it. And that's really why I jumped out into that blockchain company as a chief client officer for a year and took that risk. And after doing that for a year and my friend passing away, I kind of just want the times now. Like, if you want to make change in the world and give back and try and help financial inclusion and drive innovation forward, just jump out there, create a company and try and help companies, fintechs, succeed faster and banks work with more fintechs.
Manseeb Khan: [00:03:39] Yeah, I mean, again, super sorry, about hearing your friend passing away. But you did bring up a really good point of, you know, why not right now that we're living in the midst of a global pandemic? I mean, I know we were chatting well before I sort of work it out because I'm just like, hey, you know what? The world's burning. I'm also going a six pack. At this point, I got nothing to lose. Right. You might as well try something like something you got if you keep throwing stuff against the wall. Something’s going to stick.
Michelle Beyo: [00:04:07] Yeah, I think like through crisis comes innovation because people are already… at risk, you can take more risk. It is when you're not at risk that you're fearful of risk. I think because I was a good corporate girl in the corporate world climbing the corporate ladder for so many years, like 15, 16 years. And then when I went out into the blockchain company and you experienced crypto winter and you end up at a start-up of any kind, you end up doing multiple different roles. You learn so much. You're like when you're at risk, you can take more risk and true risk can come a lot of reward.
Manseeb Khan: [00:04:46] Oh, I agree with you that that must have been such a crazy, I guess, switch of going from corporate to go on a startup. That's very much a very common theme in the fintech space. You have a lot of classically trained corporate bankers that decide to start their own company. I'm like, oh, OK, I'm working a lot more hats that I'm used to. This is was quite the juggle.
Michelle Beyo: [00:05:10] Yeah, it's a different culture, but I really love it. It's really an innovation culture. That is, how do we work together instead of compete? I feel like that's the differential. There's so many different ways that companies can work together to drive stronger revenue versus just compete. Guess it's the same market.
Manseeb Khan: [00:05:31] Yeah. So I mean, sticking to that, what are some of the ways that companies can collaborate instead of competing right now that you know, now that we have COVID, now that we have all of this chaos going on in the world, I feel like now we should be closer than ever. How, I guess, what are some of the ways that businesses can start to collaborate, instead of competing?
Michelle Beyo: [00:05:54] Yeah, I think a lot of people are changing their business model on its head, some people were in the entertainment business. Right. And basically turn their platforms into different ways to reward customers. I think it's just taking a look at your consumer and what do they need. And if you offer them one piece of the pie, how do you partner with someone else to offer them another? So I worked with a global reward's company and help them enable microloans so you can pay for your employee rewards. You can use your points, you can use your credit card, or you can get a microloan. So in Covid times, that's so important as you're watching microloans becoming almost a necessity on your online shopping platforms because people need to kind of pay as they can. So if they could break it down into six payments, then they could pay for other essentials and still get the thing they wanted to some degree, right?
Manseeb Khan: [00:06:58] Yeah, I absolutely. This actually beautifully translates into my next question about one of my favorite topics. I think it's your favorite topic as well. Open banking. You know, how does open banking look now in a COVID world? And I guess how does the conversation now change when it comes to open banking? To me, it felt a little bit more up in the air, like it felt like a nice to have. Now it seems like the conversation has dramatically changed where now it's it seems like a necessity. Like we like we need open banking.
Michelle Beyo: [00:07:34] Yeah, I fully agree. So I just actually got my first board seat on the Open Banking Initiative of Canada and I feel extremely passionate about it because as you look to the UK and Australia and Singapore and Brazil and other countries that have taken a lead, Canada is just so far behind. And you're right. I think it just, we did really well in 2008 and we didn't have a financial crisis because we're conservative. So let's be conservative and let's hold off. And the consultations got held off due to covid, but thankfully, they're back on the books in December and that just got announced a couple of days ago. So I think the need for it is great because when you look at the opportunity in the UK, there was a platform built to allow a government when people were applying for subsidies to get access to show that they had the right qualifications. Where in Canada we're just passing everything out and hope we can look for who qualified later. So the thing about open banking is giving consumers the right and the ability to share their data and have better access to their data so they can make better budgeting decisions. They could save money on services because they can move from one location of a service to another provider in a much easier manner. And if today's society, like I think it was today, driving my kids to school and they're talking on the radio about how a study just came out, that we are number one, two and three of the most expensive telecom providing services in the world.
Manseeb Khan: [00:09:20] Yeah, yeah. I think I would agree with that. That's. Oh, my God,
Michelle Beyo: [00:09:25] It's insane. And I come from telecom. So I think if someone was to do the same study on banking, I bet you we would be almost in the same situation on a global scale. So if we are the most expensive telecom and the most expensive banking in the world, what are we doing for Canadian consumers? And I think open banking is the thing we need to do to give them competition of ability to choose better and cheaper services for not just themselves, but their kids.
Manseeb Khan: [00:09:56] One hundred percent, and especially now that we are moving into more of a global economy, you know, the first step is definitely helping out, you know, us Canadians, but also later on helping out the world like we definitely want. There's so many amazing companies here in Canada that can benefit the world so greatly. And open banking is just one of the many forms that that's going to take. Like Canada has so much amazing things to offer to the world. Unfortunately, we're just super conservative.
Michelle Beyo: [00:10:27] Yeah, we're super conservative. And I actually state that quite a bit like where is the Shopify of financial services coming out of Canada? Because if we could do Shopify so well as an export that has really driven as a technology so many different opportunities as a platform for so many companies and done so well and is probably the most profitable stock in Canada better than the banks at this point. We need to find a way to have the financial service offering that is similar to Shopify in the fintech world to compete with bigger wallets that are QR based on a global scale because it's becoming globalized banking. Right. Open banking is opening the door for the financial race to who's going to be the financial services of the world. And Canada should be at the table. But without open banking, we're not even there.
Manseeb Khan: [00:11:26] Yeah, no. I mean, I absolutely agree with you. There's actually no reason why our hats should not be in the ring for that race.
Michelle Beyo: [00:11:34] Yeah, we're making some good strides I’m always a positive thinker, so, you know, there is some payment modernizations on the books. We have the consultation happening in December. There's a new finance minister who I'm hoping will see the vision of all of the industries in Canada trying to come together to share their voice like the OBIC and NCFA really trying to share why open banking is important. And then you have Colin Deakin, who's a senator, an independent, really trying to share the voice and education into the government to help them understand what the advantages of open banking is. And it's not like a turn on the switch and go right. We have to say, yes, Canada's moving to open banking and then we have to get our competition laws right. We've got to get our data laws right, and we have to modernise our payment infrastructure. So these are three important things we have to do. But all of those things have to happen to create the right infrastructure for open banking. So I'm really hoping we get some type of clear decision in the near future.
Manseeb Khan: [00:12:47] Yeah, and I believe that conversations like this having I mean, you're also part of the NCFA board as well, which is I mean, congrats on both. It's I mean, these kind of conversations are super important. Right? These are conversations that not many people are having only because not many people know. Right. I mean, the general public honestly couldn't tell you what the heck I was talking about. And, you know, education does play a huge role into this. Education is going to play a critical role into any of the fintech initiatives that we're trying to move forward here.
Michelle Beyo: [00:13:20] One hundred percent, and I think it's kind of on us to have the right marketing insights to help educate everyday Canadians.
Manseeb Khan: [00:13:30] Yeah, I agree with you. So we'll switch gears here. Canada has introduced some new payment rails. So I guess what is the I guess like what is the relationship with open banking, with the new payment rails? Like, I guess how does it how does open banking, like, play a role, into the new payment rails?
Michelle Beyo: [00:13:54] Yeah, so they're the new payment rules are necessary to get up to ISO 2022 standard so that we can be part of the global messaging of having the right data infrastructure. So I guess I'm getting complex here, but I come from online shopping and in I guess 2002 I was doing online shopping and affiliate marketing where you can go, you can shop and then you would get double or triple the points because there was metadata in the transaction that could prove where you shopped, how much you spent, what you purchased, so that that payment can go from, let's say, Macy's to United Milage Plus Shopping Mall. So you got three times the points. And in the current system, we only have payment about, payment date, who it went to and who it came from. That's it. There's no place for you to actually put additional data insight. And therefore, like, we have kind of a rudimentary payment system that you can't put the invoice information into. You can't put additional insights that would be able to help you do better accounting, cheaper accounting. And these systems are available and embedded in the UK system. It's been mandated from a swift perspective, and Canada didn't have it on its roadmap until further down the path. And now it's coming in. The new links rails with IBM and hopefully by twenty twenty two, these functionalities and accesses will be available to really modernize our payment system.
Manseeb Khan: [00:16:05] What's, you know, being a female in Fintech what is that like? You know, I remember in one of our earliest episodes we had Sue Britton on and she mentioned how, you know, the finance space is very much an old boys club. And hopefully that's not the same case when it comes to fintech. I guess, like, what is your take on being a female founder in the fintech space?
Michelle Beyo: [00:16:35] Yeah, it's a great question. So I'm hoping that the fintech space can kind of correct what was happening in the financial space, but it's still challenging. I've largely been the only female in the room. As I came up through my career, I was in sales, executive sales, ran departments, but I was really happy. I worked for a company called Income and my boss was Brazilian and he was just 2015. We're creating a 50 50 executive team and I want you on it. And it was the best three years in that sense. Not only did he have a 50 50 executive team I created, but my team also is 50 50 and we were one of 30 countries and we were the only country with that initiative. But I have to share like in three years, I think we accomplished the most. So what I learned is that 50 50 is actually the best way, not only to drive revenue, because it's actually being proven that having more females on your executive team or board will drive about 13 to 15 percent added profit at the end of of the year. But it's also really a way to get both sides of innovation and drive things forward. So I've purposely made Finavator 50 50. I when I got offered the board seat and it was my first board seat, I asked that before I accepted that the board be made 50 50. So I think it takes. Individuals to speak up and to ask for change, otherwise it won't change because I've definitely see like when I go to work with the company or if I'm seeing someone present, I'll check their team online. And if it's all guys. It's just hard for me to kind of respect the vision that they have because, you know, you're missing an entire product mindset by having five guy founders, not to say you can't do it, but then go get some female board members to diversify your vision to ensure you're making the best decisions for your product and your profit line.
Manseeb Khan: [00:18:54] Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, a lot of these five guy, five guy founded companies will definitely throw around the word innovation in a lot of their presentations. Very tough to be innovative. If you guys are just five guys, five guys like what are you guys doing.
Michelle Beyo: [00:19:14] You're missing the side of the fence over there.
Manseeb Khan: [00:19:18] Yeah. You're missing the whole side of the fence like what was going on.
Michelle Beyo: [00:19:23] Yeah, take take the time to make the effort there's like great groups out there, like women in payments who are executive really powerful females in the industry around the world that are making innovative change within their organizations or have their own companies or SHEO or Wnet. And you can't make the claim that they can't find the women anymore. I think it's so much easier to find passionate, educated women who understand fintech or payments and can really help ensure that you get consumers that are also women because they have money, too. And if you're not paying attention, you're just you're missing money. That's how I like to position it. It's not about diversity and equality. It is. But it's also you're missing money because you're not paying attention to the whole demographic. And internally, you're missing a culture that could be so much greater if you had better diversity.
Manseeb Khan: [00:20:21] Yeah, I think missing money is going to be the name of this episode. As I said it like like it rang. I was like, that's so perfect. I love it. So let's zoom out just a little bit here. Let's get out of FinTech. Let's talk a little bit more. General, what does being a SHEeO mean to you? Yeah, let's start with that.
Michelle Beyo: [00:20:45] Yeah. I think, you know, I became a SHEeO activator back in twenty seventeen the same time that I went to that fintech IVY course, and I was just inspired. I got to it's called radical generosity. Like what a term.
Manseeb Khan: [00:21:05] Please, please dig deep and I love that.
Michelle Beyo: [00:21:08] Ok, so. So Vicki is the CEO of SHEeO. Awesome. Awesome name. And she created it because I think she came from the VC space and realized that no females were being funded. So she created this model on its head, which is basically called radical generosity. And it was started out of Canada and anybody can basically donate. It's a mandated amount, the same amount for anyone all around the world. I believe it's twelve hundred dollars. You gift it and what you get back is you get a vote so that money all goes into a pool and then organizations all apply that they have to be fifty one percent owned by a female or someone who identifies as a female. And then it all goes to a vote. I think there's over five hundred activators in Canada. It's actually happening next week. It happens one year and happens in different times all around the world, in Australia, in the UK and the US and all five hundred activators get to take a look at all applicants put in their choices and then they drill it down. And then there's another presentation. They drill it down again and then they offer some money. It's not a ton, but they also offer mentorship and different aspects to try and help the venture succeed. So it's just a really cool way to feel like in this world of chaos that you're doing something good.
Manseeb Khan: [00:22:51] What would be some of the advice that you'd give up and coming female founders or, you know, like a younger version of you?
Michelle Beyo: [00:23:10] Yeah, I you know, I take a lot of calls, like 15 minute intro calls, I just did a presentation at Money 2020 on work-life balance. This is my first time on the main stage, even though it was virtual and it was me and someone else who won money 2020 rise up, Genevieve Dozier. And we were just talking about work-life balance in the midst of this entire global pandemic and the feedback and the women that have reached out just to say that was inspiring or that was helpful or thank you for saying imposter syndrome exists. I totally have it. It didn't know what it was. I think there's so many women out there that just have imposter syndrome, which is simply, you know. Being nervous or thinking you don't deserve something or being offered a chief client officer role and stepping back and saying, well, can I be a chief client officer and just know that, get in there, take the role, apply, you're going to do phenomenal. Don't wait till you have one hundred percent of all qualifying aspects. Put yourself in the ring and shine in personality and the want and will to do better and learn more. So you reach out to other women network every day, have a 15 minute chat with someone you don't know and be inspired. Stay positive. Think big.
Manseeb Khan: [00:24:39] I love it. I love it. I think you brought up a really good point of the imposter syndrome and not being afraid of, you know, growing into a role. I mean, I think that's the feeling that everybody kind of falls into of thinking they're not. They got the role, but they don't think they're good enough. I think they have to get on the other side of that and thinking that, hey, I could grow into this role That's what happened to me. When I first started the show, I was like, I don't know anything about Fintech. Why am I talking to CEOs and founders of companies that are just absolutely killing it? I'm like, I don't know anything. And then as the shows at the shows, kind of like rolled in, I started to learn a little bit of terminology. So I do a little bit more research now on what? Thirty-seven. Thirty-eight episodes deep. I'm super comfortable. So I think, like. Allowing yourself to grow into the role, I think that's one I think that's an absolutely crucial step of. Yeah, accepting that like, hey, you know what I might not like, I might not think that I'm fit for the job or I might not think that I'm fit for the role now, but I'm going to get there and I'm just going to keep putting in the work every single day until I get there.
Michelle Beyo: [00:25:52] Yeah, and be humble, like I think even if you get to a higher level, be humble, but also celebrate your wins, right? Like if something happened, like I signed a US bank and a Canadian bank, take a moment and enjoy and appreciate that situation, because I think so many of us, whether it's big or small, just kind of achieve things but don't acknowledge them. And you only grow confidence by acknowledging what you've achieved.
Manseeb Khan: [00:26:22] Yeah, That's, I agree with you. I what I try to do is when I find out that you're coming on the show,, I just I ran upstairs to the to my little sister's room and I was like, I got a guest, let's go. And she's like, let's go. Give me a high five. I got a high five. She's like, yeah, I'd go to your research and that's it. That's my little one. The time I get a gust, any time, any time I get it, like on time. Oh those little ones, they mean so much.
Michelle Beyo: [00:26:50] Yeah, because, like life is we're not in control of so much right now. Yeah, you're in control of your little world and if something good happens and it celebrate it.
Manseeb Khan: [00:26:59] One hundred percent. I totally agree with you. So. You ran a triathlon. I think hunger, you know what? Running a marathon has been one of my dreams ever since I was in high school and I ran track. So how did that? Yeah, how did that start? Like, you not only did you run a triathlon, but raise money, like talk about that entire story, please.
Michelle Beyo: [00:27:27] Yes, it was total by fluke, and I was an athlete in high school, but I would say it ended there like I became more work-driven than sports driven. So I never first thought, like I never was planning to do a triathlon. I was a marketer and a sales girl and running three departments, and I was leaving to my new blockchain company. And the last thing I was doing for Incom was this PR. We got this really cool approval, this program to work with Visa, to sponsor five athletes, to go to the 2020 Olympics, which I laugh because that's not happening due to the pandemic. But the intention was good. We fought five years ago, had got the program and worked and got it approved, and in twenty eighteen and we're doing the PR launch at kids of steel event. So Kids of Steeles in Caledin and it's been happening for twenty-five years and I think like three athletes have made it to the Olympics from that program and it's super cute. My kids went. Signed them up. My son, just like he was really little at the time, you just had to swim one length of the Olympic sized swimming pool, go on his little tricycle around the parking lot and do one hundred meter run. He got like a metal and bubbles and candy and face paint like it's so cool getting kids, like, into the triathlon and kind of loving it. But my daughter was the oldest of all of the kids from our office. And I didn't realize he actually had to as a nine-year-old, she had to swim for like the Olympic size swimming pool, which I didn't bring goggles for. She had to do a one-kilometer bike or three-kilometer bike in a one-kilometer run. And she finished and she was the last of her heat. He came over the line kind of crying. She's like, I was last. I'm like, no, this is you against you. You finished next year. You come back and you beat your time. She goes, Mommy, I'll come back. If you come back, I'm like, OK. Yeah, like a triathlon next year. So I didn't really train. I became a vegetarian, though, in a kind of pre-training for the triathlon. So it's like, I better finish this thing. Like, everybody, I work with is going to be at the finish line, including my kids watching me. So I did train a little bit in swimming because I was like I could bike, I was a runner, I could run, but I can't swim. Like it was eight lengths of the Olympic sized swimming pool. It was a 15-kilometer bike and a five-kilometer run. And I just wanted to make sure I finished. And thankfully, I came out of there, I finished. I was not hurt and I was not last into me. That was awesome.
Manseeb Khan: [00:30:18] That's, I'm listening to your daughter do all that. I got exhausted. I was like, I can't do I if I could do half of that, I'll grab a beer. I could do half of That's. Wow. That's incredible.
Michelle Beyo: [00:30:31] Wow. That's I think it's like why push yourself to like I was kind of hoping for rain, but like, you know, it didn't and I showed up and then that's it. You just have to do it. So sign up and then feel guilty if you don't show up.
Manseeb Khan: [00:30:31] Your right.
Michelle Beyo: [00:30:50] I'm sure you can do it. And it was a sprint triathlon, so let's be clear, it's not a full triathlon.
Manseeb Khan: [00:31:00] My heart just sank. Like I might die midway through this.
Michelle Beyo: [00:31:08] I started in the water fighting to swim. I've seen videos. At least this was in an Olympic sized swimming pool. I had my own lane actually was a lane with the woman who won the triathlon. So embarrassed because I was three lengths behind her, which means I was like eight and a half minutes behind her. We started at the same time. I'm like, yeah, I am not the Olympic swimmer, that is for sure.
Manseeb Khan: [00:31:33] And you know what? You did it to raise money. So it is what it is. I mean, you did it. That's all that matters. So that's what you finish your daughter finish. Your son had a great time. I honestly would much rather be your son in that whole situation. I want to get my face painted and bubbles. That's fantastic. Oh, I'd love that right now.
Michelle Beyo: [00:31:55] Yes, well, hopefully without pandemic, it will come back next year and then you sign up. There you go.
Manseeb Khan: [00:32:00] Ok, perfect. So my perfect I just signed up for a triathlon. So that's great. Friends are going to love, love, love story. I'll bet on you. This will be fun. No, no, no. They're going to bet. They're going to bet against me. I, I can already see the brackets in my head like they're going to do it like sports. But I like OK, he's going to pass out on the three minute mark in the pool or he's going to fall on his bike. I just know.
Michelle Beyo: [00:32:26] You'll make them laugh. It will be good.
Manseeb Khan: [00:32:29] Yeah. I mean that's my role. I guess. So the Michelle is there any last minute. I guess tidbits that you want to leave the audience, anything that you feel like you haven't gotten off your chest yet, maybe something that keeps you up at night. Anything you want to, I guess, capped this episode off with.
Michelle Beyo: [00:32:53] Yeah, I think, you know, kind of to my earlier point, we're not in control of pretty much anything surrounding us right now, but you'd be impressed what you were able to achieve if you set your mind to it. So write five like ridiculous goals and trying to achieve them, because you use this time, this unique time in this weird world that we're living in to try and push yourself, because those lessons that you learn is something you'll take in this future and there's still a future ahead of us. So what are you going to do when you look back at this time of what you achieved? And for me, it's like just having really big goals and then being audacious enough to try and achieve them. So I hope more people take that initiative on whether those goals be small, whatever they be like. Can we just be better humans? Can we just try and help more people take 15 minutes to have a call with someone and try and inspire them or just let them vent or whatever that might be to just be a little bit more human in these crazy times?
Manseeb Khan: [00:34:04] Right, so everybody heard that I will be seeing you all in the triathlon with me. I'm not doing this alone. That's one of my big dreams and that's not one of yours to no discussions. Yeah, that's yeah. That's that's a fantastic way to cap this off. So what would be the best way for our audience to either reach out to you personally? If I have any questions about Finavator itself or if they wanted to grab a quick, quick 15 minute call with you?
Michelle Beyo: [00:34:35] Yeah, so my LinkedIn profile, a great way to reach out to me or finovator dotcom, you know, trying to spur innovation and help fintech close deals with banks and banks, closed deals with fintech, or just create more innovative products to compete with Asian technology that is driving really innovative consumer experiences. And we need a lot of North American companies to grow and expand and drive incredible user experiences so that our financial systems stay in country or at least compete on a global scale. So, yeah, really excited to find out who I can collaborate with and grow this mission and drive open banking forward. Thank you so much for having me today.
Manseeb Khan: [00:35:28] Yeah. No, Michelle, thank you so much for coming on the show and can't wait to have you on again and possibly see you at this triathlon.
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End of Podcast
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