Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Press Releases
Meridian’s Motusbank Winds Down After 6 Years
Fintech in Canada | March 31, 2025
Image: Freepik
Motusbank will shut down by 2026 as accounts move to Meridian and Coastal Capital Savings
In early Q2 2019, Ontario's largest credit union, Meridian Credit Union launched a digital only bank called motusbank, now after 6 years in operation, motusbank is shutting down. In a joint announcement, Meridian and Coast Capital Savings confirmed they will take over motusbank’s accounts and assets by early 2026, pending regulatory approval. This marks the end of motusbank's short run as a national online bank. It was meant to be Meridian's vehicle for expanding across Canada but it struggled to reach sufficient scale to remain viable long term.
Why Did motusbank Shut Down?
According to the announcement, despite having national ambitions, motusbank only reached 16,000 members by 2025. It highlights that competing in Canada's banking markets without branches or significant branding, or a strong digital acquisition strategy, is a grind.
See: Will Competition Reforms Boost Fintech? Inside the Fight
The pandemic also hurt smaller banks, but the stiff competition from bigger players like EQ Bank, Tangerine, and Simplii who have more brand recognition, marketing might and deeper pockets was a headwind.
Additionally, there was a leadership change in January 2022 when Jan-Ann Gilfoy was appointed President and CEO of both Meridian and motusbank. motusbank was pushed by Meridan's previous CEO, and now new leadership is emphasizing local growth, cooperative values, and is aiming to deepen relationships with existing members (customers).
Jay-Ann Gilfoy, CEO of Meridian and motusbank:
“We’ve made the decision to sharpen our focus on the growth and success of Meridian.”
Implications and Reactions
👉 Loans originated in Ontario like mortgages and HELOCs will transfer to Meridian starting May 2025. Deposit accounts and loans outside of Ontario will be transferred to Coast Capital Savings.
For customers, this news is obviously an inconvenience but their funds remain insured and most customers don't need to do anything for now, as the transition will happen automatically.
For industry however, news of motusbank's closure shows that without deep pockets, unique value proposition, a strong digital marketing acquisition strategy, and strong brand, being 'digital only with low fees' may not be enough. Compare and contrast the approach to Robinhood's wealthtech push and lifestyle finance offering.
See: Open Banking Delayed to 2026, Favours Banks Over Innovation
This is a quiet exit from the digital banking space, but it says a lot. According to Reddit users commenting on motusbank shutting down, many saw this coming and pointed to the outdated app, slower innovation and lack of aggressive growth.
One user said, “Motusbank has been pretty much on life support through the pandemic.”
Others said they’ll likely switch banks unless Coast Capital can impress them. Some are locked in for now, like one poster with a GIC maturing in 2027.
Closing Outlook
Neo, challenger, and digital-first banks should sit up and take notice, given that motusbank was one of Canada's few fully digital banks not owned by one of the incumbent banks. The message is pretty clear, convenience and low fees must be paired with innovation, strong growth strategy, size/trust and scale.
Given the dominance of Canada's banks and the governments hesitance to open up more competition in the banking sector, it's harder and harder to go it alone and customers will suffer with limited choice for innovative alternatives and high fees. The Crisis Canada and Fintech Can’t Afford to Waste
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, artificial intelligence, 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
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
Robinhood’s WealthTech Push and Lifestyle Finance
Robinhood | March 28, 2025
Image: Robinhood Banking (Robinhood's Newsroom)
Robinhood Unveils Low-cost Wealth Management, AI Tools, and Luxury Banking Perks for Retail Users
On March 27 2025, during Robinhood's Lost City of Gold event keynote, the company announced 3 major launches that katipult the company well beyond trading, including Robinhood Strategies, Robinhood Banking, and Robinhood Cortext. The new suite of tools is moving towards a lifestyle finance platform, targeting a future where personalized financial services aren't just for the rich. Built for Gold members, these moves could disrupt Canada's fintech landscape if local players start following suit.
Robo-Advisory for a Fraction of the Cost
Mostly everyone dislikes expensive service fees in finance. That's the pitch of many fintechs who are competing directly with traditional banks. But Robinhood Strategies takes a different approach to investment fees. Instead of charging you proportionately more (in fees) as your total portfolio grows, Robinhood is keeping it simple and low cost by charging an annual flat fee of 0.25%, and Gold members never pay more than $250 a year (no matter how large their portfolio is or how much they invest)!
See: Wealth Management Insights for Fintechs and Investors
To put that in perspective, that's half the price of Wealthsimple’s 0.5% standard tier, and with a low $250 fee cap that means investors with larger portfolios pay even less. Let's do the math. If you invest over $100,000, any money above that is managed for free (due to the fee cap). Someone with $250,000 ends up paying just 0.1%, and at $500,000, the total fee drops to only 0.05%. So as your portfolio grows, you don't pay more fees - you pay less!
Like most robo-advisory models, portfolios are built to match your risk and financial goals, using a mix of ETFs and selected individual stocks. The service also includes built-in tax optimization, loss harvesting tools,and performance insights, all through a user friendly app.
Banking Perks That Feel Exclusive (But you don't have to be rich)
Chalk this one up to the marketers but Robinhood Banking certainly sounds good by way of bringing premium banking features to regular users. When the platform launches later this year, Gold members will get access to many services that you'd expect from a private bank like 4% interest on savings, ability to send money globally in over 100 currencies, help with estate planning, taxes, and get this....even have cash delivered to your door like a pizza. The platform will also include some family friendly banking features like accounts for kids with embedded spending controls.
See: Open Banking Delayed to 2026, Favours Banks Over Innovation
On top of all that, Robinhood is adding some luxury experiences like access to high profile events, private helicopters, and global concierge services, apparently as part of a broader push to become more than just a finance app. The goal is to be a full lifestyle platform for money management.
Real-Time AI Tools in Your Pocket
All launches these days include AI and Robinhood is no different. Cortex is the financial platforms brain or real time analysis engine that can answer most basic questions that investors ask all the time, such as Why is this stock moving? What strategy fits my risk tolerance and market perspective?
In response, Cortex will generate short summaries explaining stock price movements and help users build trades aligned with their outlook, which can be helpful when trading complex strategies like options trading. While Cortex isn't designed to place fully autonomous trades on your behalf, it aims to bridge the gap between newish investors and pro-trader research tools, towards a new type of AI powered investing experience for every day users.
What This Means for Canadian Investors
On July 15 2024, Robinhood celebrated the opening of their Toronto office and the hiring of a 50 person team to kickoff their Canadian expansion. As of March 2025, Canadian users still don't have access to the Robinhood app and there isn't a public update on the status of any sort of banking license application or timeline, so Robinhood's banking services remain unavailable in Canada at this time.
See: Wealthsimple’s 10th Anniversary and Path to $1 Trillion AUM
As Robinhood continues to build, Canadian fintechs like Wealthsimple, Questrade, Koho, and other local players are enjoying an early market lead. But now that Robinhood is pushing the boundaries of what's possible, such as expert portfolio management at an ultra low cost, the expectations of the market are bound to change. Canadian firms will need to keep up or risk falling behind. Competition is going to ramp up, so fasten your seat belts and get ready for an interesting ride.
Closing Outlook
Fintech continues to evolve. It’s no longer just about cheap or no fee trading. It’s about offering full financial experiences. With AI tools, pro-managed portfolios, and even banking with luxury perks. Robinhood is setting a new standard. Canadian platforms may have a head start but they better adapt quickly because users will start expecting more, and may look elsewhere to get it.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, 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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
GameStop Joins Growing List of Bitcoin Treasury Holders
Bitcoin Reserve | March 26, 2025
Image: Freepik
GameStop Stock Jumps on Bitcoin Reserve Strategy, Shares Surge 15%
Adding bitcoin to your company's treasury is a growing strategy. This time, GameStop is back in the spotlight but not because of Reddit influencers but because of Bitcoin. The video game retailer just announced that the GameStop's board unanimously approved an update to their investment policy to add Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset. So now there's a green light to use part of its cash or future capital to acquire Bitcoin without setting a cap on how much.
The news sent GameStop shares soaring almost 15% to $29.10 in after hours trading on March 26 2025 and came alongside their fourth quarter earnings which showed a surprising profit despite falling sales with earnings per share at $0.30, crushing analyst expectations of just $0.08.
See: Trump Signs Order for Bitcoin Reserve, Crypto Stockpile
The decision is part of a broader effort to appeal to a new generation of investors and push for a more aggressive company and bolder financial strategy. It's in line with actions taken by other corporations, such as MicroStrategy which have integrated Bitcoin into their financial strategies. The move also follows the recent executive order by President Trump to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve.
Canadian Companies Embracing Bitcoin
Several Canadian public companies have also adopted Bitcoin as part of their treasury strategies.
Goodfood Market Corp. (TSX: FOOD) In January 2025, Goodfood became one of Canada’s first consumer-facing companies to adopt Bitcoin as part of its treasury. The company made an initial $1 million CAD investment via a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Neptune Digital Assets Corp. (TSXV: DASH) Between January 26 and February 3, 2025, Neptune acquired 20 more BTC for $2 million USD. This brought their total Bitcoin holdings to 376 BTC.
Bitcoin Well Inc. (TSXV: BTCW) In December 2024, Bitcoin Well began a Bitcoin treasury strategy by adding 7.5 BTC and announced plans to raise $2 million through a convertible debenture to expand their holdings.
DeFi Technologies Inc. (NEO: DEFI) In 2024, DeFi Technologies officially made Bitcoin its primary treasury reserve asset and later diversified into Solana and Core DAO staking.
Matador Technologies Inc. (TSXV: MATA) Matador who is focused on tokenizing real world assets (RWA) expanded its Bitcoin treasury in late 2024 by acquiring an additional 3.46 BTC.
LQwD FinTech Corp. (TSXV: LQWD) As of early 2025, LQwD held 136 Bitcoins. Their most recent purchase added 5 BTC to their long-term reserve strategy tied to the Lightning Network.
Kontrol Technologies Corp. (CSE: KNR) In November 2024, Kontrol announced it would begin holding Bitcoin directly as part of a capital preservation plan, starting with a $1 million CAD purchase.
These above companies at the front line of a growing trend among Canadian public firms (there are many private companies, too!) to integrate Bitcoin into their financial strategies, looking to diversify assets and hedge against inflation.
Why It Matters
Bitcoin's interest continues to grow and is starting to be treated as a serious asset by more and more companies who are rethinking how they handle money amidst economic uncertainties and inflation (potential stagflation), and anyone in finance, policy and tech should be watching closely.
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, artificial intelligence, 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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
Smarter API Integration with VoPay’s AI-Powered Assistant
Vopay | March 5, 2025
Image: Freepik/rawpixel.com
VoPay’s AI GPT Assistant is Transforming Fintech with Smarter, Faster, Fintech Integration
On March 4, 2025, Vancouver-based embedded payment solutions leader, VoPay, has revealed its latest innovation, it's API GPT Assistant. It's an AI-powered tool designed to help developers integrate financial technology solutions quickly and efficiently. By using advanced language models, it automates API documentation, troubleshooting, and even front-end development to significantly reduce integration time.
See: Embedded Finance: Banking Meets the Customer
Hamed Arbabi, CEO and Founder of VoPay:
“Integration is often the biggest hurdle in adopting new financial technology. With our API GPT Assistant, we are eliminating that friction—empowering developers to build faster, more accurately, and using the programming languages they prefer. This isn’t just about convenience; it’s about fundamentally accelerating financial innovation.”
Who is it for and How Will They Benefit?
The API GPT Assistant is built for developers, fintech startups, enterprises, and product teams looking to setup a payment API integration seamlessly. VoPay's API GPT assistant serves as an interactive guide with automated API call requests, real-time debugging and code suggestions across multiple programming languages including Python, JavaScript, C#, and PHP, and integration strategies. It can also create front-end payment interfaces and ensure compliance with industry regulations, helping teams integrate financial solutions with focused efficiency, and all customized to their specific use case(s).
See: Key Findings from 2025 Advanced Payments and Fintech Survey
Simply put, the assistant reduces complexity and saves a lot of time required for implementing fintech integrations. Developers no longer need to struggle through extensive documentation or troubleshoot errors manually, as the AI provides instant solutions tailored to their platform. By accelerating API implementation, companies can properly setup, launch, and scale financial products faster and more accurately. With this type of instant troubleshooting and 24/7 expert support, teams can focus on innovation, instead of being bogged down with hiccups.
VoPay’s Expanding Fintech Ecosystem
VoPay has been actively building a robust fintech ecosystem through strategic partnerships and groundbreaking innovations. The fintech is constantly improving how businesses handle payments. By refining its embedded payment technology, the company is making it simpler for businesses to add seamless, secure financial transactions directly into their platforms. Below are just a few examples to check out:
VoPay teamed up with Mastercard to make international payments quicker and safer. This partnership helps businesses move money across borders in real time, reducing delays and improving security.
VoPay is growing its presence in the U.S. by working with Cross River Bank. This allows businesses to use major payment networks like ACH and Real-Time Payments (RTP), making transactions smoother and more efficient.
VoPay’s payment technology made it easier for people to donate to charities using GiveWise. As a result, donations went up by nearly 50%, and more funds were sent to charities.
Real estate investment company, Parvis, started using VoPay’s payment system, reducing the time it takes for payments to go through from a full week to just a few days, giving investors quicker access to their funds and drastically speeding up transactions.
VoPay set up a special AI research lab to explore how artificial intelligence can improve financial processes. The lab focuses on predicting financial trends and automating repetitive tasks, helping businesses make smarter decisions and work more efficiently.
Conclusion
By reducing integration barriers and providing intelligent, real-time support, VoPay is helping businesses implement secure, scalable payment solutions with unprecedented ease. As AI adoption continues to transform financial services, VoPay remains at the forefront, driving efficiency and innovation in fintech solutions.
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, artificial intelligence, 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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
BDC Commits ~$1 Billion to Support Canadian Scale-ups
Financing | Feb 18, 2025
Image: Freepik/jcomp
BDC Invests Nearly $1B to Boost Canadian Businesses
Canada’s Business Development Bank (BDC) is injecting almost $1 billion into helping Canadian companies scale up and compete globally, during this period of challenging economic conditions. The announced funding will almost be split between two growth funds as follows:
The Growth Venture Fund (GVF) will receive $500 million, targeting late stage tech firms facing difficulties in securing capital. In 2023, venture capital investment in Canada dropped across all stages, with funding for later stage firms almost in half compared to 2022.
The Growth Equity Partners (GEP) program will receive $450 million to support mid-market businesses with equity investments to help companies grow and acquire strategic assets. Since its launch in 2017, GEP has invested over $440 million in 36 Canadian firms.
See: What Toronto Can Learn from Tel Aviv’s Start-Up Scene
Isabelle Hudon, President and CEO, BDC:
"We are leaning into our role as Canada's development bank. We fundamentally believe that our economic resilience begins and ends with the Canadian entrepreneur. Investing in our best and brightest is always a winning strategy, whether it's responding to the short-term uncertainty like tariffs and inflation or shoring up our long-term economic prosperity".
Notable Investments
- Certn (Victoria, BC): Receiving $30M to grow its AI powered background check/screening services globally
- StackAdapt (Toronto, ON): A digital advertising company that uses AI
- BCES Global (Ottawa, ON): Electrical services is using BDC’s investment to consolidate its market position
- Dissan Group (Montreal, QC): A janitorial supply distributor will use funding to expand its network
Why It Matters
With risking economic uncertainty, borrowing costs, and labour challenges, it's harder for businesses to access capital. BDC's almost $1 billion investment will help Canadian businesses grow and compete by filling funding gaps for mid-size and scale-up companies, strengthening Canada's innovation economy.
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, artificial intelligence, 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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
RBC and Carbonhound Partner to Automate Carbon Management
ESG | Feb 13, 2025
Image: Freepik
RBC and Carbonhound Partner to Bring Automated Carbon Management to Canadian Businesses
On February 20, 2025, RBC announced an ESG collaboration with Carbonhound to provide automated carbon management solutions for Canadian companies. This sounds like a great initiative where businesses of all sizes are increasingly under pressure to track and reduce their carbon footprint. Technology is helping small and medium-sized (SMEs) companies in particular who struggle with the complexities of carbon reporting, empowering how they approach sustainability.
See: How Carbon Pricing Impacts Fintech and Investment Strategies
Niranjan Vivekanandan, EVP and COO, Commercial Banking at RBC:
"We are excited to work with Carbonhound to offer our clients an accessible solution that is designed to manage and report carbon emissions. Together, we aim to enable Canadian businesses to make and measure progress in their transition to a low-carbon economy."
Why Carbon Management Matters for Businesses
The Canadian government pledged to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 backed by the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Act, which became law on June 29, 2021. The law requires government to set emission reduction targets and enable plans to achieve them. Canada is currently aiming to reduce emissions by 40-55% below 2005 levels by 2030.
As governments set goals to reduce carbon emissions and investors focus more on sustainability, businesses are feeling the pinch and the need to step up their game in tracking emissions. However, traditional carbon reporting relies on manual data collection, spreadsheets, and external consultants which can be slow, expensive and subject to errors. For many SMEs, keeping track of their carbon footprint is challenging and takes up too much time.
See: Davos 2025 Themes and Takeaways for Fintech
SMEs account for 99.8% of Canadian businesses and were responsible for 41% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2020. However, according to a KPMG 2023 business survey while 78% of Canadian SMEs have policies to reduce emissions, the majority of them 70% report that they lack the time and resources to implement them effectively. Compliance costs and lack of expertise often prevents smaller firms from activating sustainable efforts. Automating carbon tracking can help companies overcome these barriers towards making real progress.
Sanders Lazier, CEO and Co-founder of Carbonhound:
"Sustainability reporting has become table-stakes for businesses that want to work in global supply chains and attract top-tier talent. We are excited to work with RBC to help enable Canadian businesses to compete more effectively and expand their margins through sustainability data."
How RBC and Carbonhound’s Partnership Works
The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), one of Canada’s largest financial institutions, is partnering with Carbonhound a company that makes tracking carbon emissions easier by connecting directly to business data and providing real-time insights into emissions. It also helps businesses create reports that follow major sustainability rules, making it easier to stay compliant and be more transparent.
The partnership brings a set of solutions designed to:
- Track emissions automatically using real business data including Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gases
- Create carbon reports that meet sustainability reporting standards
- Offer practical steps to help businesses lower their emissions, such as insights to set realistic reduction targets and identify cost-saving strategies
- Ensure compliance with increasing sustainability regulations including the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and ISO 14064
Also worth noting, on February 1, 2025, Carbonhound announced a partnership with Manifest Climate, which uses AI to guide businesses through evolving regulatory landscapes to make climate reporting more accessible and actionable.
Impact on the Canadian Market
Canada’s financial rules are changing to push businesses toward sustainability. With the government and regulators focusing on ESG reporting, companies that don’t adapt could lose funding or face stricter rules.
See: Tech Leaders Launch Build Canada for Innovation Policy Reform
RBC has been a leader in sustainable finance, first pledging $100 billion by 2025 but after reaching that goal ahead of schedule the bank increased its commitment to $500 billion by 2025, showing continued dedication to help companies adopt more sustainable practices (learn about RBCs climate commitments).
The RBC-Carbonhound partnership helps all Canadian businesses especially SMEs, which often lack the resources for sustainability efforts and carbon reporting. As more businesses use these tools, Canada’s economy will be better prepared to compete in a world that values sustainability.
Conclusion
As Canada pushes toward its net-zero goals, partnerships like RBC and Carbonhound can help companies turn sustainability from a challenge into an opportunity and competitive advantage while staying compliant, attracting investment, and reducing their environmental impact.
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, artificial intelligence, 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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
BNY Mellon Sets U.S. Record with $10M Instant Payment
Payments | Feb 11, 2025
Image: Freepik
BNY Mellon’s $10M Instant Payment Sets a New Standard for Real Time Transactions
On February 10, 2025, BNY Mellon announced that they just processed the largest instant payment in U.S. history. That's right. $10 million on the RTP® network following a recent increase in transaction limits. This is a big milestone for the payments industry and shows growing adoption of real time payments which are changing the way companies manage liquidity, streamline operations, and financial efficiency.
Key Takeaways
- Game-changing $10 million payment on The Clearing House RTP® network. The previous network limit was $11 million but on February 9, 2025 the cap increased to $10 million, allowing businesses to move larger amounts instantly. The first 8 figure instant payment was between Computershare to an account at another financial institution.
See: 2024 Global Payments Growth, Trends, and Fintech’s Edge
- Real time payments are on the rise. Currently, over 285,000 businesses use the RTP® network monthly for real time transactions. The network now has the ability to send large payments 24/7, eliminating delays caused by traditional banking hours or batch processing.
- Traditional wire transfers are becoming less attractive than real time solutions. Instant payments can provide a competitive advantage for your financial requirements including needs like payroll, or paying suppliers, and broker settlements. For businesses this means no more payment delays, faster payroll processing, and immediate supplier settlements. For individuals, it means getting paid on time without the waiting game.
Ann Bowering, CEO of Computershare Issuer Services, North America:
“In our industry, the ability to move large payments instantly, securely, and reliably is crucial. With real-time payments, we can settle higher-value transactions immediately, reducing counterparty risk and improving overall working capital efficiency. This level of speed and certainty was not possible before, and this is an exciting step forward for how we can potentially deliver solutions to our corporate clients.”
Why It Matters for Fintech
The world is moving towards instant everything and payments are no exception. Fintech companies have a big opportunity to build new services that tap into the empowerment of real time transactions. Some examples and ideas below:
See: The Transformative Impact of Instant Payments on Financial Crime Mitigation
1. Instant Payroll and Gig Worker Payments
- Workers can get paid immediately after finishing a job
- Employers can improve cash flow and keep their employees happy by offering real time salary payouts
2. Fast B2B Payments
- Businesses can pay/settle invoices instantly, improving cash flow and supplier relationships
- Refunds and customer payments can be processed faster (i.e., think e-commerce or SaaS)
3. Real Time Loans and Repayments
- Lenders can distribute loan funds instantly
- Borrowers can make instant repayments (helping to avoid late fees, resulting in better credit management)
Payments Canada Real-Time Rail Update
On January 29, 2025, Payments Canada who is managing Canada's Real-Time Rail (RTR) system provided their most recent quarterly update here. Similar to The Clearing House's RTP® network or the government's competing FedNow's instant payment service (both in the U.S.), Canada's RTR system once live means that businesses and consumers will no longer have to deal with delays, batch processing or operating hour restrictions when sending money. Here's the latest updates:
- The RTR technical build is now more than halfway complete with ongoing infrastructure development
- Testing preparations have started including finalizing test strategies, selecting tools, and onboarding industry participants
- A centralized fraud mitigation system is being developed with consensus reached on high level design requirements
- Canadian Payments Act amendments are progressing, expanding membership eligibility to PSPs and other financial institutions
- No official launch date has been announced but Payments Canada continues towards full deployment (NB: the project launched in 2019)
See: RPAA Registration Deadline Passed See Who Applied
When Canada's RTR officially launches, we can all expect faster and more efficient payments across Canada. We'll finally catch up with the U.S., U.K, and Europe, where real time payments are already now well established.
Closing Thought
Now that real time payment services are here, how long will it be before it becomes the business standard? For now, companies especially fintechs should adapt and adopt quickly to gain a competitive edge and/or not be left behind. Without a doubt, there's increasing demand for instant, secure, high value transactions.
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, artificial intelligence, 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
| | |
|---|---|---|
| | |
