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
Issuer Direct Rebrands as ACCESS Newswire, Trades as ACCS
Partner News | Release | Jan 29, 2025
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada (NCFA) is pleased to highlight a key milestone for one of our industry partners. On January 27, 2025, Issuer Direct Corporation is officially rebranding as ACCESS Newswire Inc., trading under a new NYSE ticker symbol "ACCS".
ACCESS Newswire Inc. is redefining how businesses connect with investors and the media, launching the first-in-industry subscription-based PR and IR platform that optimizes the value and impact of client press release distribution and media and investor engagement with more flexibility and full transparency.
See: Risk Management Strategies for Investors: Protecting Your Portfolio
Brian R. Balbirnie, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of ACCESS Newswire Inc.:
"The rebrand to ACCESS Newswire represents more than a name change; it's a commitment to creating a dynamic, all-encompassing investor relations and public relations customer experience. Since 2006, we have continued to progress our business and maximize the value provided to the thousands of customers over the years, but we recognized the need for a brand that reflects the next 20 years of our business."
What’s New at ACCESS Newswire?
A more customer-centric and streamlined approach to PR and IR, built for the modern business needs:
- ACCESS Newswire is introducing an industry-first subscription solution under a single unified brand, offering an enhanced suite of media targeting, distribution, investor outreach solutions.
- On January 27, 2025, the company will officially trade under the NYSE American ticker symbol "ACCS". The company’s CUSIP number remains the same. Shareholders don’t need to take any action.
- New website URL: www.accessnewswire.com
Why This Matters
The PR and IR industries have relied on traditional pricing models and fragmented solutions for too long. ACCESS Newswire is changing the game by offering businesses a simpler, more efficient, and affordable way to connect with their audience. This change is innovative and is focused on building long term value for its customers. For more details, visit ACCESS Newswire Inc.
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
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CFPB Recognizes FDX as U.S. Open Banking Standards Leader
Open Banking | Jan 9, 2025
Image: Freepik
FDX Earns CFPB Approval to Establish Secure Open Banking Standards in the U.S.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has officially recognized the Financial Data Exchange (FDX) as a standard-setting body for open banking in the United States. This allows FDX to develop and maintain American standards for customers to securely share their financial data with authorized third parties. This data sharing aims to bolster competition and innovation in financial services by furnishing consumers with more choices and better control over their financial data.
CFPB's Personal Financial Data Rights Rule
In October 2024, the CFPB introduced the Personal Financial Data Rights rule that requires financial institutions to give consumers FREE access to their personal financial data along with the ability to transfer it to other (third party) providers upon request. To advance this initiative, the CFPB regulator setup a process to recognize standard-setting bodies that can create guidelines for secure and efficient data sharing. FDX is the first recognized standard-setting body under this new rule.
FDX's Role and Conditions
FDX is a non-profit operating in the U.S. and Canada with over 200 members including banks, fintech companies, data aggregators, and consumer groups. Its core mission is to develop a common, interoperable standard for secure consumer and business access to financial data records.
See: Canada’s Open Banking Journey: Interview with Steve Boms, Executive Director Financial Data and Technology Association – North America “FDATA”
The CFPB's recognition of FDX as a standard-setting body is valid for 5 years with the following conditions:
- FDX must avoid deals that give unfair advantages to certain companies to ensure standards are created without bias.
- FDX must track and share updates on how its standards are being used and provide public tools for companies to show they follow the rules.
- FDX must make its standards available to everyone for free with equal access including members and non-members.
Industry Perspectives
The recognition of FDX has garnered support from various industry stakeholders including the American Bankers Association who noted that FDXs API data format is already used to connect over 94 million consumer accounts and is available at no cost for parties that sign the FDX API License Agreement.
See: Open Banking in Canada Delayed to 2026, Favours Banks Over Innovation
Kevin Feltes, FDX CEO:
“This recognition provides helpful clarity to the market at a critical time. Many firms are running fast to come into compliance with the CFPB’s recent Open Banking regulation and give customers more control over their financial data. The recognition underscores FDX’s position as a leading forum for companies and nonprofits from across the financial ecosystem to collaborate on interoperable methods for secure, consumer-permissioned data sharing,”
Outlook
FDX's recognition opens the doors for fintech innovation and more choice and better services for consumers, and increased collaboration across the financial sector. The result? Consumers gain greater control, businesses unlock innovation, and the industry moves toward a more interconnected future.
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
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Tipalti Expands Canadian Operations with Localized Solutions
Release | Dec 10, 2024
Image: Freepik/rawpixel.com
Tipalti Launches Localized Product for Canada, Strengthening Its Canadian Footprint
On December 5, 2024, global finance automation company, Tipalti announced the launch of new tools made specifically for the Canadian market including support for Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT) and local bank accounts, making payments smoother for Canadian businesses, alongside their registration with FINTRAC as a money services business.
Why Now?
Tipalti is primarily a finance automation company that focuses on streamlining and automating accounts payable and global payment processes for businesses. They are beyond just a payments company with its core offerings around automating financial workflows such as invoice processing, tax compliance, supplier management, and payment reconciliation.
According to a recent study by Sage, 60% of Canadian finance leaders struggle with manual workflows and 40% report productivity losses from outdated processes. Tipalti believes it can automate tasks that optimize workloads by 80%. Further, Tipalti expects Canada's economy to grow in 2025 and they want to prepare to meet the growing demand for scalable financial systems.
See: Reversing Canada’s Digital Economy Productivity Decline
Sam Barakat, Tipalti’s Chief Revenue Officer:
“We’re here to help Canadian businesses modernize and grow. These new tools make it easier for them to scale up without getting bogged down by financial operations.”
Competition Heating Up
There are a number of other fintech companies offering similar payment tools and services for Canadian businesses that may have accelerated Tipalti's latest move in Canada. Finix for example is a San Francisco-based payments firm that recently announced expansion into Canadian markets in February 2024 and also offers EFT services and local bank account integrations in Canada.
See: VoPay & Sage Revolutionize SMB Payroll Solutions
Or VoPay, Canadian scaling fintech that specializes in EFT payments so businesses can send and receive funds directly between bank accounts. VoPay's API supports multiple payment methods and offers features like instant bank account verification and balance checks.
Outlook
As Canada’s economy continues to grow, the demand for scalable and efficient financial tools will only increase.
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
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CFPB Finalizes Open Banking Rule: What it Means for Canada
U.S. Open Banking | Oct 22, 2024
Image: Freepik/rawpixel.com
CFPB's New Open Banking Rule Impacts Data Rights, Influencing Competition and Innovation in Both the U.S. and Canada
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has introduced a new Open Banking rule that will change how Americans manage their financial data. The Personal Financial Data Rights Rule lets people have greater control over who can access their financial information, making it easier and safer to switch banks or service providers.
See: CFPB’s New Rule Boosts Open Banking Standards
The new rule aims to lower borrowing costs, improve customer service, and give consumers more options when it comes to banking and payment services. Beyond the United States, this change could also influence how Canada develops its own open banking system which would may help reshape the future of financial services in both countries.
What Does the New Rule Do for U.S. Consumers?
The new regulation from the CFPB allows consumers to provide their banks or financial service providers permission (or not) to share their financial data with other parties. Information from credit cards, bank accounts, payment applications, and other sources may be included. The goal of this rule is to make it simpler for customers to get better deals and improved services from banks and fintech companies by removing barriers (switching costs) that prevent them from sharing their data.
See: Competition Act Amendments and What It Means for Fintech
It is anticipated that increasing data portability and openness would boost competition and motivate financial institutions to enhance their products in order to keep their clients happy.
- People can transfer their financial data from one bank or provider to another without paying any fees, making it easier to switch to better options.
- The rule provides stronger privacy controls by ensuring that any data shared with third parties is only used for the specific services the consumer has approved. This prevents the data from being used for other purposes like advertising.
- Ability to remove access swiftly with a simple and easy to understand revocation process. If you take away access to your data, the rule ensures it stops immediately and your data is deleted by default unless you give permission (again) within a year.
- The rule will be phased in with institutions being required to follow the rule by 2026 (smaller institutions have until 2030).
Rohit Chopra, CFPB Director:
“Too many Americans are stuck in financial products with lousy rates and service. Today’s action will give people more power to get better rates and service on bank accounts, credit cards, and more.”
What Does This Mean for Open Banking in Canada?
The U.S. adopting open banking may have implications for Canada who has been working to develop its own 'consumer-driven' financial model of open banking for several years now (but has been dragging its feet).
See: Canada’s Open Banking Framework 2024 Preview
1. Canada has taken a step-by-step approach to giving people more control over their financial information. However, with the progress (and productivity) achieved in the United States around Open Banking it may encourage Canadian policymakers to accelerate their efforts to finalize open banking in Canada so Canadian consumers do not fall further behind and miss out on modern banking choices.
2. If both the U.S. and Canada have interoperable data-sharing standards, it will improve cross-broder options for financial services, which would be especially beneficial for Canadian fintechs looking to expand South of the border while providing Canadians with more options and new, creative products that operate in both countries. By aligning standards, it will also make it easier for companies operating in both the U.S. and Canada to comply with regulatory requirements (rather than have duplication of effort, causing productivity gaps).
3. Canadian banks will feel pressure to innovate their products in the face of increased competition from fintechs and U.S. banks. Otherwise, consumers may begin to switch in favour of cheaper, better financial offerings and an overall improved customer experience (more control over their data and privacy).
See: FCAC Embraces New Role in Canadian Consumer Banking
4. By allowing consumers to grant third parties access to approved data, the U.S. is creating stricter privacy regulations than currently in place. As data sharing grows, Canada will want to ensure its consumers are also being protected with comparable strict privacy laws to ensure public confidence.
While CFPBs Open Banking regulation is positive and promotes competition in payments, it draws attention to the challenges that Canada needs to overcome to successfully implement a similar open banking system in Canada that will help both customers and the larger financial ecosystem. While not an exhaustive list, these obstacles may include handling data privacy issues, guaranteeing compliance among smaller organizations (yet providing flexibility on its implementation), and handling the technological difficulties of safe data exchange.
Outlook
As Canada works on its own version of open banking, it can take useful insights from what the U.S. is doing to build a system that encourages competition and innovation while keeping consumers at the center. By emphasizing choice, data protection, and fair practices, Canada can develop a system that benefits its people and helps the digital economy grow. The U.S. approach to making data easier to share could also help smaller companies compete with bigger banks, leading to a more dynamic and healthy market.
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
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FBI Sting Uncovers $25M Crypto Market Manipulation
Crypto Sting | Oct 11, 2024
Image: Pixabay/Spectra112
FBI's Fake Crypto Sting Uncovers $25 Million in Market Manipulation
The U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Massachusetts announced on October 9, 2024 that the FBI has successfully taken down a major market manipulation scheme by creating a fake Ethereum-based token called NexFundAI (NEXF). The undercover FBI sting (known as 'Operation Token Mirrors') led to 18 individuals and businesses being charged for their involvement in a pump-and-dump scam, leading to the uncovering of $25 million in unlawful earnings, which has been confiscated by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). According to the DOJ, this is the first time that financial services companies in the crypto sector have been charged with market manipulation.
See: Ex-FTX Exec Ryan Salame Starts 7.5-Year Jail Sentence
Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, on the case:
“What the FBI uncovered in this case is essentially a new twist to old-school financial crime. The FBI took the unprecedented step of creating its very own cryptocurrency token and company to identify, disrupt, and bring these alleged fraudsters to justice.”.
Wash Trading Scam
The pump-and-dump scam used wash trading as their primary strategy to create the appearance of increased trading volume for NexFundAI without the actual market demand. The fake demand was used to influence investor behaviour by artificially inflating prices, and then when the NEXF token reached a certain point, the market manipulators swiftly sold their tokens leaving regular investors in the lurch with significant loses. The case involved popular market makers including ZM Quant, Gotbit, CLS, MyTrade MM, Saitama, and Robo Inu who all provided services to inflate token values on behalf of cryptocurrency companies.
See: TD Bank’s CEO Departs Amid $3B Money Laundering Failure
As part of the investigation, 'Operation Token Mirrors' uncovered a range of tokens with the most prominent token targeted with fraudulent activity called Saitama, which had a market value of $7.5 billion at it's peak. These scams obviously effect individual traders but the entire crypto sector as a whole.
Global Operation with Major Arrests
This was a global sting operation with authorities collaborating across international borders. To bring these people to court, the FBI collaborated extensively with foreign partners, such as the UK's National Crime Agency and Portugal's Policia Judiciaria. Arrests were made in Portugal, the United States, and the United Kingdom with several of the defendants now awaiting trial, and four have already entered guilty pleas.
Joshua Levy, Acting U.S. Attorney stressed investor diligence:
"These charges are a stark reminder of how vigilant online investors must be... People considering making investments in the cryptocurrency industry should understand how these scams work so that they can protect themselves.”.
See: Regulatory Updates for Crypto Asset Trading Platforms
Conclusion
Operation Token Mirrors clearly demonstrates the increasingly sophisticated tools that the FBI and law enforcement agencies are using to combat fraud in digital times. Seizing $25 million and making multiple high profile arrests sends a strong message to both bad actors and investors.
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
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FSRA Teams Up with Fintech Cadence to Drive Ontario Innovation
Innovation Partnership | Release | Sep 30, 2024
Image: Freepik
Supporting Fintech Growth and Innovation in Ontario
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) and Fintech Cadence have formed a partnership to foster fintech innovation in Ontario.
Fintech Cadence, a Montreal-based non-profit organization, is known for its commitment to advancing innovative financial innovations, businesses, and talent development. Their role in advising, teaching, and connecting fintech entrepreneurs is well aligned with the FSRA's objective to promote good financial services regulation and consumer protection while fostering innovation in the industry.
See: Balancing Fintech Innovation and Regulation
The two groups will work together to focus on:
- Providing fintech companies with training materials and mentorship opportunities to assist them navigate the regulatory environment.
- Facilitating collaboration between regulators and fintech businesses to ensure that innovative products are compliant with Ontario's financial legislation and consumer protection guidelines.
- Encouraging a balanced regulatory strategy that promotes innovation while providing strong consumer safeguards.
Conclusion
This cooperation aims to boost fintech in Ontario by promoting technology innovation and customer protection.
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
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AI’s Double-Edged Sword of Retail Investing
Report | Sep 25, 2024
Image: Freepik, AI generated
OSC Research on AI and Retail Investing - Exploring Opportunities, Risks, and Scams
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) just dropped two reports about Artificial Intelligence and Retail Investing. The first report explores the 'Use Cases and Experimental Research', and the second report looks at 'Scams and Effective Countermeasures'. Below we share some takeaways of how AI is affecting individual investors on both sides of the equation, good and bad.
AI Use Cases in Retail Investing
While there are many emerging use cases of how AI is being used to enhance the retail investing experience, there are two main areas that people investing in stocks, bonds, ETFs, and other financial instruments without professional management are using new AI tools today.
The first is using AI as a decision support tool. Retail investors are using AI systems to analyze portfolios or the entire market to gain data-driven insights, guidance, and recommendations. Previously, access to this type of intel was either too complex or expensive for ordinary, smaller investors to use on a regular basis. An example of this is via self-directed investment platforms with AI chatbots or financial advisors that can evaluate an investor's objectives and compare them with their stock picks and/or portfolio.
See: A Look Inside 2024 DIY Investing Trends in Canada
The second main use case is trading automation, where retail investors can automate their investing decisions via robo-advisors or AI powered investment funds. This allows individual investors to manage their own portfolios efficiently and without the need for ongoing monitoring. These solutions are popular with ordinary investors because they basically provide low cost, lite touch portfolio management services without large advisory fees.
Select Risks and Challenges
The reports highlights a laundry list of risks for retail investors which is heightened due to the limited financial experience and resources available to them compared to institutional investors. Here are a few challenges to understand and mitigate.
If a retail investor has an investment advisor, they can always ask them a specific question and expect to receive a measured, qualified, and tailored response. This explainability and transparency is different than AI trading systems that often function as 'black boxes' where decision logic is hidden from review. Retail investors who become overly reliant on new AI tools without knowing how they actually work may find themselves in a risky situation. A biases AI model, for example, can lead to bad investing decisions.
See: Generative AI Myths That Founders Should Know
AI systems can have systemic risks like herding behaviour where AI pushes all retail investors to make the same choices because the AI model says so. Retail investors who may lack basic trading knowledge could be disproportionately affected by this, which may increase market volatility, especially during financial crises. Think of how many of us 'follow' google maps down unknown roads yet we can see a steady stream of cars that are also heading down the same unknown road. Did we ever stop and think is this a good decision?
The report highlights a challenge called 'Principal-Agent risk' which describes the danger of an AI tools being used by a larger firm that prioritizes their own profits over the best interests of individual retail investors (unknowingly of course). This could result in a conflict of interest where AI is in fact acting against the best interest of a client.
AI Scams Targeting Retail Investors
With the advancements of generative AI, scammers are creating more convincing phishing ploys, deepfake videos, and even fraudulent investment platforms specifically targeting retail investors. AI is helping fraudsters look more legitimate, making it harder to detect scammers, putting unsuspecting retail investors at risk because they often base their investing decisions from a social media influencer or public endorsement.
See: Can AI Truly Replace Human Financial Advisors?
AI supported Ponzi schemes where scammers advertise fake trading platforms or algorithms driven by AI that provide large profits at low risk. Retail investors are drawn to these schemes to generate quick profits but these platforms are often fraudulent, tricking investors who may never see their funds again.
Protecting Retail Investors
The reports suggests that retail investors can protect themselves from AI powered fraud and manipulation by increasing their financial literacy and knowledge of AI powered scams. According to the findings, prebunking (proactively prevent misinformation) and inoculation strategies can reduce the chance that a retail investor would fall for a specific fraud. that uses artificial intelligence.
Regulation. Measures that require more transparency and disclosures from AI platforms including a clear understanding of how the AI decision logic is being made and ensuring their are accountable for it.
Why This Matters
AI is already changing the retail investing landscape, so the OSC research findings are important especially for retail investors.
See: The AI Revolution in Wealth Management: Top 3 Innovations (and more)
While AI systems are enabling more access at a cheaper cost they also pose new dangers for every day investors. As the sophistication of AI continues to grow, there will be a disproportionate impact for vulernable retail investors.
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
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