Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Personal Finance
Financial advice blows up on TikTok. The narrative has changed.
InvestmentNews | Nicole Casperson | Feb 15, 2021
In the past, advisers viewed social media as a marketing tool that targeted only millennial and Gen Z clients. That narrative has changed.
Imagine having less than a minute to dispense financial advice while standing in a room of thousands, or even millions, of potential clients. Now imagine doing that alone from the comfort of your home, with a smartphone and mobile app as the only tools needed.
That’s what financial advice is on TikTok, the short-form, video-sharing app. Type the hashtag personal finance — #personalfinance — into the TikTok app’s search bar and thousands of videos pop up that provide viewers with financial advice and explanations of financial terminology in the form of 60-second videos.
See: Can Reddit Forums Take Down Hedge Funds? Why GameStop Stock Soared
Financial influencers, some certified financial planners and some not, have leveraged society’s social media obsession to answer finance questions online ranging from “What’s a short squeeze?” to “How do I start saving for retirement?” in order to rack up followers and build a business.
These efforts are flourishing: TikTok videos tagged #personalfinance have garnered 3.5 billion views from the more than 1 billion monthly active users on TikTok, according to mobile data and analytics platform App Annie. By comparison, videos found under two other popular hashtags, #cookingtips or #healthtips, have 2.6 billion and 2.1 billion views, respectively.
While expanding financial advice to a wide range of young investors is a good thing, there is potential for bad results when mixing personal financial advice and TikTok, said Ritholtz Wealth Management CEO Josh Brown.
“Users should be aware that if you’re listening to people on social networks and not even bothering to Google them to see whether they have credentials and blindly doing what those people are saying, that responsibility is on the viewer just as much as it’s on the creator,” Brown said.
For example, some TikTok influencers create videos showing users how they invest in certain stocks to make money. One user, who goes by the TikTok username @Biaheza, shared a video with his 64,000 followers illustrating how he used the free trading app Robinhood to invest in “speculative” and “degenerate” trade options to make money, he said in the video. The user claims his strategy pushed his account value to $124,000.
While the financial advice may be risky, social media influencers with large followings can earn money through these platforms because advertisers will pay content creators to tout brand promotions and sponsorships to their thousands, or millions, of followers.
See: After you die what happens to your digital assets and NFTs?
In July, TikTok introduced a $200 million TikTok Creator Fund after the platform’s popularity “propelled thousands of creators into brand partnerships, sponsorships, and representation deals,” according to TikTok’s announcement.
Through the fund, TikTok users can apply to earn an income based on these criteria: Users must be 18 or older, have at least 10,000 followers, have at least 10,000 video views in 30 days, and consistently post original content in line with TikTok guidelines.
In the past, advisers largely viewed social media as a marketing tool that targeted only millennial and Gen Z clients. Clearly, that narrative has changed as the pandemic-fueled interest in finance has turned social media and financial advice into a full-blown business model.
INFLUENCER IMPACT
The focus on traditional ultra-high-net-worth clients typically steered advisory firms away from social media and younger investors. But millennials and Gen Z are expected to inherit $68 trillion, the greatest generational wealth transfer, over the coming years.
Younger generations are going to keep making decisions based on what they learn about finance from TikTok videos, she said. The way TikTok’s algorithm delivers content makes it easier to find random videos and introduces personal finance to a group of people who might not have been interested before.
One of the most popular providers of personal finance advice videos, with more than 1.5 million followers and 22.2 million likes on TikTok, is a former Merrill Lynch financial adviser turned social media influencer, Humphrey Yang, who’s known as @humphreytalks.
At 33, the San Francisco-based content creator snowballed on TikTok after he posted finance-focused videos on the platform. One video that went viral shows Yang scaling former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ net worth with rice, with each grain representing $100,000.
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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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NCFA Announces 7th Annual FFCON21 Digital ‘Breaking Barriers’ FinTech Conference
NCFA Canada | FFCON21 Team | March 11, 2021
FFCON21 to connect HR talent and explore accelerated Fintech trends and innovations paving the way to mass adoption and scale
TORONTO — March 11, 2021 — The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA), organisers of Canada’ foremost Fintech conference, is pleased to announce the return of FFCON for its 7th consecutive year. The annual FFCON Digital Event, held in association with Toronto Finance International (TFI), will take place May 11-13, 2021.
Building on the success of previous conferences, this year’s event -- titled ‘Breaking Barriers’ -- will bring together an international community of leading voices in fintech, digital banking, tokenization, blockchain, CBDCs, digital identity, AI, capital markets innovation, EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) and sustainable, open, and alternative finance.
“Fintech is evolving quickly and breaking barriers,” said Craig Asano, Founder and CEO of the National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada. “Fintech is no longer niche -- it is a permanent technological evolution that is changing the world of finance by high growth fintech companies and incumbent financial institutions. It’s rewiring financial services for the new economy and setting new standards that also demand new regulations. Most importantly, it’s about improving access and delivering better financial products, services and outcomes for everyone especially consumers and small to midsize enterprises (SMEs).”
The theme of FFCON21 reflects the growth and challenges that the Canadian Fintech industry has had to navigate through to foster scalability and mainstream adoption, made all the more complicated through the disruption caused by Covid-19.
“Our Fintech ecosystem has become a great strength in the greater Canadian innovation landscape. COVID-19 has accelerated the pace of change in the industry and highlighted the important role digital innovation plays in the competitiveness of the financial services sector. Rapidly changing consumer habits and ways of delivering products and services offers a significant opportunity for Canadian Fintechs" Jennifer Reynolds, President & CEO, Toronto Finance International
Beyond covering important fintech topics, FFCON21 will offer an engaging and fast-paced interactive agenda, including investor speed dating, sports-inspired Fintech Draft pitching and demo competitions designed to identity and feature emerging fintech stars, debates, round table discussions, digital ebooths and virtual expo, 1-on-1 networking opportunities and unique experiences. Delegates and partners can build their knowledge base, launch or scale an idea or collaborate digitally with visionary entrepreneurs and investors.
New to FFON21 this year, organizers are adding an HR fintech talent marketplace to connect anyone seeking new opportunities with high growth companies, and a ‘deep dive’ masterclass series on the topic of decentralized finance as part of its quarterly Global Fintech Now program for VIP passholders.
The multi-day event will run from May 11-13 inclusive with daily content to span feature themes of Digital Innovation and Breaking Barriers, Creation & Growth and Global Future Forward. Updates to the evolving programme and speaker lineup can be found on the FFCON21 website.
Registration Now Open
Registration for FFCON21 Breaking Barriers is now open with special early bird rates for delegates, exhibitors and startup packages available for a limited time. Tickets can be purchased at https://fintechandfunding.com/tickets/.
Useful Links
Fintech Draft Pitching & Demo Application
Website | Experience | Partner Packages
Connect with us
About the NCFA
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA) 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 and cryptocurrency, Regtech, and Insurtech sectors. To learn more about NCFA visit www.ncfacanada.org
About Toronto Finance International
Toronto Finance International (TFI) is a public-private partnership between Canada’s three levels of government, the financial services sector and academia. TFI’s mission is to lead collective action that drives the competitiveness and growth of Toronto’s financial sector and establishes its prominence as a leading international financial centre. For more information, please visit: www.tfi.ca
About FFCON
FFCON21 (Fintech and Financing Conference) is an annual conference hosted by Canada’s National Crowdfunding and Fintech Association (NCFA). Now in its seventh year, FFCON21, held in association with Toronto Finance International, will bring together professionals and innovators in fintech, open banking, digital identity, blockchain, cryptocurrency, AI, capital markets innovation, sustainable and alternative finance.
Further information about the conference can be found at www.fintechandfunding.com
FFCON21 Contacts
Craig Asano
Founder and CEO, NCFA
casano@ncfacanada.org
(416) 618-0254
Partnership Inquiries
Lauren Linton
Advisor, NCFA
lauren@ncfacanada.org
(416) 569-4349
Media Contact
The Top Floor Public Relations
Michele McDermott-Fox
michele@thetopflooragency.com
(905) 379-1893
David Lewis
david@thetopflooragency.com
(905) 541-5699
N26 Co-founder Maximilian Tayenthal talks growing one of the fastest-growing mobile banks in the world
McKinsey Digital | Feb 26, 2021
Setting a bold vision, adapting the business to respond to market feedback, and putting customer satisfaction first has enabled digital-banking start-up N26 to grow rapidly into a global bank valued at $3.5 billion.
Creating a new, global business in a regulated industry such as financial services is challenging. Setting the organization up for global scale and turning it into one of the most successful digital disruptors comes with even greater challenges. In a conversation with McKinsey’s Jerome Königsfeld and Lukas Salomon, N26 cofounder and co-CEO Maximilian Tayenthal reflects on learnings from the company’s rapid growth and rollout across 25 countries.
Ability to Adapt
Lukas Salomon (LS): You launched N26’s banking product six years ago and have scaled rapidly. Looking back to your early days, how did you come up with the idea for the business?
Maximilian Tayenthal (MT): We originally started with a different idea: we were offering a prepaid card for teenagers. The card was connected to an app through which their parents could control the card. But when we launched a beta version of this product, we quickly discovered that parents weren’t actually using this product for their kids—they were using it for themselves. We then realized that we might be able to play in a bigger arena, as our product had all the elements of a digital-banking offering: cards, an app, and accounts into which people could deposit money. If we could build a strong product, we’d be able to compete with large incumbents in their core business.
See: Banking on digital growth with Chris Skinner
LS: After identifying that opportunity, what were the first indicators that showed you’d actually be able to scale it into a billion-dollar business?
MT: There wasn’t one specific moment in which we really knew it’d be a success.
As soon as we launched the banking product, we saw strong excitement from customers and confirmed that there was a need for our product. We had a waiting list of 50,000 prospects. Once we understood that potential, my co-founder and I set our long-term ambition.
We knew we didn’t want a quick exit. Instead, we wanted to build a global financial institution, impact the lives of 100 million customers, and compete with the biggest banks worldwide. I think setting this level of ambition early on is what differentiated us from many other start-ups—we always follow our North Star target of 100 million customers.
Navigating rapid growth requires experienced leaders, scalable back-office systems and full transparency in reporting
Jerome Königsfeld (JK): What were the organizational measures you took to enable rapid scale-up?
MT: That’s definitely been challenging. We started as a team of two in our living room in Vienna and knew every tab and cell of our business-case spreadsheet. But eventually you realize that you’ve grown so much that you can no longer do that and need to delegate.
See: Versabank to Launch VCAD, World’s First Bank-issued, Deposit-based Digital Currency
In the beginning, you dedicate all your focus to the product, which means that back-office and organizational processes sometimes lag behind.
With our growth rates, it has been particularly hard to keep up with the pace. At times, we were doubling both our customer base and our employee count every six to eight months. This came with major challenges: new team members were sometimes onboarded by someone who had joined the company only four weeks before them. Somebody hired in a stand-alone role could find themselves managing a team of 20 direct reports six months later.
When you’re growing so quickly, it’s vital that your systems and organizational processes are scalable. Think about the situation you want to be in two years from now. Select systems that don’t just work for the 100 employees you have today but for the 500 or 1,500 you might have by then. Make sure that you also hire people who’ve seen big organizations before and who are able to lead others. We may be a young team, but today we’re hiring people with a lot of experience, especially for executive roles.
LS: While your role encompasses a broad set of responsibilities across the company, you also served as the CFO. How do you see the role of the finance function in a rapidly scaling business?
See: 3 Challenges of Scaling a Fintech Company Across Borders
MT: One of the key responsibilities is fundraising. At around $3.5 billion, we’re one of Germany’s highest-valued and most well-funded private start-ups, but we still have a very big vision and need to make sure that we find sufficient capital to fund our global expansion. We’ve greatly benefited from the liquid private markets of the past few years but are now also considering a potential IPO in the future.
JK: What about monitoring and reporting? How do you ensure you’re on track and establish transparency on plans and budgets when your business transforms so quickly?
MT: We’re passionate about data. We monitor dozens or even hundreds of key metrics such as sign-ups, churn, cross-sells, upsells, and subscriptions in real time. Live dashboards allow everyone to track progress every minute. On the financial side, we have a full P&L every month but monitor KPIs within the teams daily.
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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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Fintech start-up Hardbacon secures $1.1 million thanks to equity crowdfunding
Wealth Professional | James Burton | March 2, 2021
Finance app Hardbacon receives boost to growth plan as it prepares to go public
A Montreal-based fintech company has secured more than $1.1 million through the Frontfundr equity crowdfunding portal as it positions itself to go public.
See: Fintech Fridays EP51: Bacon and Eggs
Hardbacon brought in $1,136,400 from more than 800 investors, smashing its $500,000 fundraising goal. The company, which markets a personal finance app, has thus completed one of the largest rounds of equity crowdfunding in Canada, with this laterst round bringing its total financing to more than $2.2 million since its inception.
A B2C app for self-directed investors, it generates revenue from Hardbacon Premium subscriptions as well as from lead generation and sales of its two white label solutions for financial institutions: a portfolio analysis module and a financial planning module. Its partners include National Bank Direct Brokerage and Desjardins Online Brokerage, and it also has an advisor feature.
The funding will be used to accelerate the fintech’s growth and fuel its ambition to reach the summit of the lead generation market in the financial services industry.
CEO Julien Brault told WP: “Raising a round of over $1 million with a goal of $500,000 is a huge vote of confidence from our user base and the Canadian public. It put us in a very good position to execute our growth plan as well as go public. This round, which is among the largest fundraising round in FrontFundr's history, proves once more that equity crowdfunding is a valid financing option for tech companies in Canada. I’m pretty excited about closing such an historic round and it will give us the fuel we need to hire the right people to execute on our growth plan.”
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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 banks are using AI to create smart trading platforms and identify client needs
Investment Executive | Fiona Collie | Feb 22, 2021
Financial services firms are using AI to create smart trading platforms and identify client needs
Technology is everywhere in the financial services industry, and banks have been building their artificial intelligence (AI) bona fides in recent years.
Components of AI include natural-language processing, which uses technology to analyze the spoken and written language, and machine learning, which uses algorithms to analyze and learn from large amounts of data.
See: Top 12 AI Use Cases: Artificial Intelligence in FinTech
Since 2016, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) has focused on AI through its dedicated research division called Borealis AI. In October 2020, Borealis AI and RBC announced the launch of Aiden, an AI-driven electronic trading platform for institutional investors.
Aiden uses “reinforcement learning.” For every trade [Aiden] makes, it also justifies why it just did that,” Agrafioti said. “And that gives people confidence and trust that they understand the context of the algorithm they’re seeing.”
a form of AI based on behavioural psychology that either rewards or penalizes an algorithm when it makes a decision. This is the same type of machine learning used for AlphaGo, a Google-owned computer program that beat a human player at Go, a sophisticated board game, in 2016.
But making trading decisions in a live market is more complicated than playing a board game, noted Foteini Agrafioti, chief science officer at RBC and head of Borealis AI.
“It’s a much more complex environment where we were able to deploy [Aiden] and we’re extremely happy with the results,” she said.
Traditional electronic trading programs are designed to follow specific rules in certain market conditions and must be reprogrammed when they encounter new scenarios — which leads to downtime. Aiden, on the other hand, is dynamic: it can adapt to changing market conditions, Agrafioti said.
See: FCA and City of London’s Digital Sandbox Pilot – Presentations and Use Cases
Still, Aiden is not completely autonomous. As with other AI platforms, humans can overrule Aiden’s investment decisions when necessary. But before that happens, Aiden has a chance to explain its rationale to a human supervisor — a crucial feature for an AI platform.
Banks also are using AI to leverage one of their most valuable resources: client data. These data may include emails sent to an advisor, financial transactions and the number of times a client has signed in to an online account.
In 2020, Bank of Nova Scotia announced the creation of a global AI platform that uses client data to help identify client needs.
During the first wave of Covid-19, Scotiabank used its AI capabilities to identify clients who were at risk financially as a result of the pandemic. The bank then contacted those people to offer potential solutions — something Scotiabank intends to do again in the future.
“We will continue to focus on providing applicable unique solutions for our customers and being able to tailor those solutions to customer needs,” said Phil Thomas, executive vice-president, customer insights, data and analytics, with Scotiabank.
As Scotiabank and other companies continue to harness customer data, critics wonder how AI platforms use that data, leading to growing demand for “ethical” AI.
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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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Improving Energy Efficiency using Modern Window Technology
Guest Post | Feb 5, 2021
“An average Canadian spends approximately $130-$150 per month on gas and $125 - $160 on electricity, which makes it on average a total of $3,000 - $3,700 utility bills per year. This means utility bills, which cover a large part of your home or office heating and cooling, would be taking a large chunk of your money”, - says Arkadi Lykovsky, Ecoline Windows expert from Vancouver.
However, the amount of energy Canadians spend is highly dependent on how committed they are to taking steps to reduce the amount of energy their homes or office consume daily, monthly and yearly. One major step to take to reduce the amount spent on utility is by choosing energy-efficient windows, doors and skylights that would save money and keep your home comfortable in all seasons.
Energy-efficient windows and doors help you save energy. The glass in our windows comes with a standard Low-E coating. Rooms that get a lot of direct sunlight can overheat during the day. Low-E glass reflects sun rays away from the house and keeps your home comfortable. There are different Low-E coatings based on how much sunlight you want to block. The same technology stops heat from escaping your home during the winter, reducing heating costs.
See: How to Spend Money
High-performance energy efficiency windows and doors must meet specific standard requirements to ensure they perform efficiently. This article will discuss in detail the industry standard and requirements they must meet.
Industry Standards
Industry standards are the criteria that exist in a particular field and are commonly the accepted requirements that must be adhered to in that industry. In this context, we take a look at those requirements that energy-efficient windows should meet to be considered standard.
Certification Requirements
Certification requirements are the demands every high-performance energy efficiency window must meet to be certified. For energy-efficient products to be certified, they must pass through the ENERGY STAR scrutiny.
Standard Specification
Standard specifications are a set of components, materials, or processes needed to achieve uniformity and efficiency of a set of products. Standard, high-performance energy efficiency product has a standard specification. This specification is issued by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) authorized NRCan to issue the ENERGY STAR name and symbol in Canada.
To be entitled to the ENERGY STAR certification, there is a need for third-party organizations to test energy-efficient. These organizations received their accreditation from either the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) or Standard Council of Canada (SCC) to meet specific U-value, Energy Rating and air-tight efficiency specifications for Version 1, 2020 dated January 1, 2020.
- U-Factor
The U-Factor calculates how much a product can prevent heat from leaking out of a room. One way to know this is to check for how high or low the number is because the lower the number, the better the product is at preventing the heat from leaving the room.
- Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC)
Basically, SHGC is the fraction of solar radiation passing through a window, skylight, or door. It might be either transmitted directly or absorbed and consequently emitted as heat within the house. The lower the SHGC, the less solar heat it spreads and the higher its shading facility.
- Air Leakage
This calculates the amount of air that is likely to gain access to your home via a product. The amount of air leakage you will experience is dependent on the number.
- Energy Rating (ER)
When it comes to window products, the Energy Rating (ER) is an authorized neutral organization's evaluation. A rigorous standard procedure takes place to assess the products. Basically, ER rating for windows measures its overall efficiency based on the following factors:
- solar heat gain
- air leakage heat loss
- heat loss through frames, spacer, and glass
The key rule here is: the higher is better. A higher rating leads to better performance.
What is NFRC?
National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) is a non-profit organization in the United States. It focuses on the responsibility of sponsoring energy efficiency certification and issue labels for windows, skylights and doors.
The NFRC is a program set up for a purpose: provision of performance ratings for energy-efficient products. These products are in five groupings and they include: U-value, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient, Visible Transmittance, Air Leakage and Condensation resistance. This enables you to set up a comparison of the energy efficiency that exists among products and ascertain if each product meets the required standard.
See: How six companies are using technology and data to transform themselves
The NFRC is operating under strict monitoring processes as regards the NFRC certification programs, thereby ensuring that your energy efficiency products meet the highest quality standard for best performance.
What is NAFS-11?
North American Fenestration Specifications for windows, doors and skylights, NAFS-11, is a standard that is measured when two or more windows joined together align with specific performance assessments.
What is the ENERGY STAR?
Energy Star is a program set up by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE). The program has a focus, which is to provide support to consumers to save money while they have access to safe environmental practices through energy-efficient products.
What are ENERGY STAR Requirements?
Any product with the Energy Star label showcases that it is a top-rated, cost-effective and high-performance product. Below is a representation of how residential windows, doors, and skylights in Canada are certified in the ENERGY STAR program. The requirements are reflected in the Tables below. To be certified, at least of the requirements in them must be met.
Table 1: U-factor Criteria for Residential Windows and Doors
| Product | Max U-factor | Max U-factor |
| Windows and doors | 1.22 W/m2.k | 0.21 Btu/h.ft2°F |
Table 2: Alternate ER Criteria for Residential Windows and Doors
| Product | Min ER |
| Windows and Doors | 34 |
Ecoline Windows Case Study
Below is a case study of Ecoline Windows, energy efficiency windows manufacturer in Canada. They have over 40,000 installations, and all their products are ENERGY STAR rated and NAFS 11- tested. Below is the evaluation of the qualities of some of their specific products.
New Stage Ultra Plus R9 IG Units
The Ultra plus triple is a high-performance energy-efficient window certified by the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC), Stage Ultra Plus, R9 IG units, has a triple glazing system is produced to deliver a 0.11 U-Factor, which compares to an insulating factor.
See: Remote Working Cybersecurity Checklist
The New Stage Ultra Plus, R9 IG units, was produced to help conserve energy and increase comfort during summer and winter seasons through its optimized features like the low-e, Ultra plus glazing system and silicon expanded foam soap spacer. Another unique highlight to the Ultra Plus R9 IG units is its German high performing Hot Melt sealing process.
Double and Triple Pane
In what circumstances is a double or triple pane required?
Ecoline Windows: Because glass panes are the largest and most vulnerable part of a window, it is necessary to provide an adequate amount of insulation for harsh climate conditions, which is why a minimum of 2 panes is always required. However, triple pane windows are best for areas with low winter temperatures. Our Ecoline triple glass has high energy rating standards.
LoE Coated Glass
Can you briefly explain what the LoE Coated Glass does?
Ecoline Windows: Our Low-emissive glass coatings help keep in the internal more than an ordinary glass would, especially during cold winter seasons while it serves as a sun shield by filtering harmful UV rays and lessening heat penetration in summer. We have different combinations of LoE glass coatings available for different levels of performance.
Argon and Krypton Gas
What does Argon and Krypton Gas do?
Ecoline Windows: Our Argon and Krypton gas conduct about 50% less heat in the air. They use these gases to consume the spaces between the double and triple pane windows which protect against heat loss, condensation and cold weather to save more energy and provide comfort. The Ecoline windows are equipped with different unique features which play a vital role in enhancing their functionality. Below are some of these features:
● PVC Profile Walls
How thick are PVC profile walls?
Ecoline Windows: Our PVC walls are 7 to 10 % thicker than the regular for all the types of windows. It includes casement, casement fixed, picture windows and awning.
- True Multi-Chamber Design
What is the purpose of the True Multi-Chamber Design?
Ecoline Windows: All our Ecoline windows use the True Multi-Chamber design for three basic purposes: to improve structural performance, improve sound insulation and reduce warping.
● Multiple Glazing Options
What multiple glazing options do you have available?
Ecoline Windows: we have a variety of glazing options available. For the traditional double glazing, it is equipped with 7/8 overall thickness. While the triple glazing options are 1-3/8. And they are primarily used for awning, casement, casement fixed and picture windows. All the options we have available for sliders and hung windows are 1-1/4 without grill limitations.
● Screen Groove Port Design
What is the function of the Screen Groove Port design?
Ecoline Windows: The purpose of the Screen Groove Port Design is to basically for improved push-down screen fit in the casement and awning windows.
See: In the Future, Home Will be Wherever Consumers Choose to be
The Bottom Line
Modern window technology is the key to conserving energy, protecting the environment and living comfortably in all seasons as they help you pay fewer bills on heating and cooling, provide warmth or cold to suit your needs and reduce greenhouse emissions. However, energy efficiency products go through a series of scrutiny to be fit to use, all of which have been discussed in this article. To ensure you make the best decisions when determining if an energy efficiency product would yield high performance, it's important to consider the certification requirements demanded of every energy efficiency window for best results.
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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Brazilian neobank Nubank Raises $400M Series G at $25B Valuation
Techcrunch | Marcella McCarthy | Jan 28, 2021
While the pandemic has left some startups strapped for cash, the aptly-named Brazilian neobank Nubank is swimming in it. This morning, the company announced that it has raised a $400 million Series G round, putting their total funding to date at $1.2 billion. But even more remarkable, in addition to their new $25 billion valuation (up from $10 billion in 2019), is their customer base of 34 million users, which they’ve built up since the fintech’s launch in 2013.
“We’ve gone from 12 million customers in 2019 to 34 million solely based on word of mouth,” said David Velez, the company’s co-founder and CEO.
By September last year, the company was onboarding 41,000 new customers per day. Nubank prides itself on having a $0 customer acquisition cost. Velez said the startup spends what would be marketing money on “great salaries” and superior customer service, which in turn creates “fanatic” customers who share their love for the brand with others.
See: Nubank Investment Underscores Tencent’s Quick Investing Pace
The new valuation places Nubank as the fourth most valuable financial institution in Latin America and the largest digital bank in the world by the number of customers and app downloads.
Nubank, based in São Paulo — the financial capital of Latin America and home to 12.8 million people — has expanded to Colombia and Mexico and plans to use the new funding to flesh out its operations in those markets while continuing to build out its product offerings in Brazil.
What started as a credit card company now functions as a full-service bank, minus the cumbersome bank branches, which is one way the company has been able to allocate its funding primarily toward growth.
“People were really done with being mistreated and paying high fees”
“People were really done with being mistreated and paying high fees” said Velez, speaking to Brazil’s notoriously bureaucratic and dreadful banking experience (liken it to going to the DMV, but regularly). Historically, to pay your monthly bills in Brazil, you had to go to a bank branch and wait in line — often outside in the heat — until it was your turn. The lines wrapped around the block like that of an Apple Store upon the release of the latest iPhone.
Read: Is Digital Banking Safe? Which is safer, Fintechs vs Incumbents?
“It’s like they are doing you a favor by opening an account for you and then charging you 450% interest rate per year,” said Velez. “Our bet was that people would really like to be treated like humans,” he added.
The company is known for reaching the unbanked population in Brazil, especially those who simply weren’t in the financial position to get a credit card. Traditional banks are present in about 80% of Brazilian municipalities, but considering that Nubank’s app-based product is location-agnostic, it’s able to reach 100% of the municipalities, the company said. In addition, it’s been helping Brazilians build credit.
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