Industry News

Bridging the cash and digital worlds

By Molly Shea The cash versus cashless debate has been well-argued for years now, with many people putting their eggs in one basket or the other: either making the case for a completely cashless society or arguing why physical currency is still valuable. While you probably carry less cash than …

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Nov-Dec 2019 Issue

Adopting emerging payments solutions

By David Grindal Our traditional world of stable payment acceptance mechanisms is long gone. Payments used to just mean either cash and cards for a merchant or automated clearing house (ACH) and wire transfers and larger-amount cheques for a business, government or institution. The only person-to-person (P2P) payments that were …

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Nov-Dec 2019 Issue

Five reasons to automate invoices

By Anthony Loiacono All businesses are not created equal and neither are their accounting needs. There is no one-size-fits-all way to structure an accounts department. However, there may be an easier way to handle certain accounting tasks, such as invoicing, which can be automated to reduce the amounts of staff-hours …

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Sept-Oct 2019 issue

What’s fuelling the Bitcoin bus?

By Andrew McCormack Since the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009, cryptocurrencies have had their share of media frenzy. Even Facebook has gotten in on the action, recently unveiling its Libra digital coin. But Bitcoin was the first, it’s the biggest and with the help of new players on the market, …

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Sept-Oct 2019 issue

What it means for Canadians

By Brendan Read Open banking promises to provide Canadian consumers and businesses with the ability to control the use of their banking data and access digital banking tools or financial technology (FinTech) services, according to Senator Colin Deacon. He is a member of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade …

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Sept-Oct 2019 issue

Visa x Payment Rails

By Peter Misek Earlier this year, FinTech and artificial intelligence (AI) startups across Canada presented their innovative solutions for the payments industry at the Visa-sponsored Future of Payments Pitch Battle, as part of the Canadian Fintech Summit (www.fintechsummit.ca). Amongst 14 startups across a wide range of sectors, one company stood …

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Sept-Oct 2019 issue

The measured evolution

By Meenaz Sunderji A recent report released by the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce warned that Canada is at risk of falling behind if the country fails to create a regulatory environment conducive to open banking. The report called for the federal government to move forward with …

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Sept-Oct 2019 issue

Removing the payments boundaries

By Brian Weiner The experience of buying and selling has fundamentally changed and there is no sign this will stop. Payments are no longer being constrained by current wire payment infrastructure, thereby opening up possibilities for people even in the most remote parts of the world and giving them access …

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Sept-Oct 2019 issue

Rebooting international payments

By Lindsay Mulligan It’s difficult for banks to distinguish themselves in today’s digital world. With technology evolving at the speed of light, customer expectations are high, and it is incumbent upon financial institutions (FIs) to provide their clients with the latest technology if they wish to obtain, and retain, their …

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Sept-Oct 2019 issue

Prepaid sparks FinTech innovation

By Jennifer Tramontana Prepaid currently plays a valuable, though unassuming, role in Canada’s financial ecosystems. With $4.3 billion loaded onto open-loop prepaid products in 2018, reports the Canadian Prepaid Providers Organization (CPPO), prepaid is rising from the shadows as more consumers, businesses and governments discover the convenience and security of …

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