Finance Canada Archives - Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA)

April 4, 2022by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA NA and Paytechs of Canada Release Landmark Survey on Canadian Consumer and Small Business Attitudes Toward Financial Sector and Open Banking

Contact: Steve Boms ([email protected]); Alex Vronces ([email protected])

April 4, 2022, Toronto and Washington, DC: More than half of Canadians feel stress when interacting with Canada’s financial services sector and believe they would benefit from increased competition and transparency in the financial services market, according to a landmark survey commissioned by FDATA North America and Paytechs of Canada. The findings indicate this is especially true among women, young people, and new Canadians. Among the biggest sources of dissatisfaction are high fees and a lack of choice.

The findings are derived from two surveys conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights. One was of a randomly-selected sample of 2,001 Canadians 18 years of age or older. The other was of a randomly-selected sample of 600 Canadian small business owners. In each, respondents were asked about their experiences with Canada’s financial services sector.

“As the government advances critically important initiatives to modernize Canada’s financial services market, including open banking and payment modernization, the voices of consumers and small businesses must be at the center of the conversation,” said Steve Boms, Executive Director of FDATA North America. “These first-of-their-kind surveys clearly demonstrate Canadians’ hunger for a more competitive, transparent, and innovative Canadian financial system.”

“At a macro level, we’ve long known that the Canadian financial services sector isn’t as productive as it could be because of barriers to competition and innovation, which is part of the reason why the government is modernizing its approach to financial sector policy,” said Alex Vronces, executive director of Paytechs of Canada. “These surveys shine a light on the often-neglected human cost of less competition and innovation for consumers and businesses.”

“The survey findings show that navigating the financial services sector is a stressful experience for about half of Canadians and small business owners.” said Dan Arnold, Chief Strategy Officer at Pollara. “So it is not surprising that both audiences see the potential benefits that reforms to the sector could bring.”

Key Findings:

About half of Canadians (52%) and small business owners (51%) feel stress when interacting with the financial services sector. Those who operate larger small businesses (10+ employees) are significantly more stressed (72%). Moreover, the majority (54%) of these larger small business owners feel the amount of time they spend dealing with the financial services sector is getting in the way of them actually running and growing their business, twice the overall level among small business owners (26%). Immigrant small business owners are more likely to be stressed by their interactions with the sector.
Over two-thirds of Canadians believe more competition in the financial services sector would lead to a greater choice in products (70%) and lower financial services fees (67%). Moreover, small business owners are over four times more likely to agree than disagree with the sentiment that Canadian small businesses would benefit from increased competition in the financial services sector (64% vs. 14%).
Among specific changes tested, Canadians are most likely to feel they would personally benefit from easier ways to “shop around” to get the best possible rate (75% would benefit), easier ways to transfer money quickly and securely (73%), and tools that help make personalized investment decisions (69%).
Among specific changes tested, small business owners are most likely to feel they would benefit from easier ways to “shop around” to get the best possible rate (73% would benefit), better ways to transfer funds between different accounts (68%), and alternatives to credit cards with lower interchange fees for merchants (62%).
There is widespread agreement among the users of Non-Bank FinTech Apps that they are easy to use (91%), have lower fees (82%), and help save money (73%).

To access the full survey data, click here.

For media enquiries or interviews, please contact:

Steven Boms

Executive Director, FDATA North America

[email protected]

Alex Vronces

Executive Director, Paytechs of Canada

[email protected]

About FDATA North America

FDATA was heavily involved in the UK Open Banking Working Group in 2015. In 2016, the working group’s output was published by Her Majesty’s Treasury as the Open Banking Standard. FDATA North America was founded in early 2018. Its members collectively provide tens of millions of consumers in Canada, the United States and Mexico with aggregation-based financial tools to better manage their finances.

About Paytechs of Canada

Paytechs of Canada is a not-for-profit association that provides a harmonized voice for technology companies that move money. Our mission is to make Canada’s financial sector more competitive and innovative, without compromising its safety and soundness. Serving millions of Canadians on a daily basis, our membership includes payment processors, financial technology companies, and financial institutions, among others.

March 22, 2022by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America Applauds Choice for Canadian Open Banking Lead

Contact: Kerrie Rushton, (202) 365-6338, [email protected]

March 22, 2022, Washington, DC – The Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America today issued a statement following the announcement that Abraham Tachjian will serve as Canada’s Open Banking Lead. In its August 2021 report, the Minister of Finance’s Advisory Committee on Open Banking recommended the appointment of an Open Banking Lead who would report to the Associate Minister of Finance Canada as a critical first step in the delivery of open banking in Canada.

Executive Director Steve Boms said:

“Today represents an important step forward in Canada’s efforts to deliver open banking by 2023. We are encouraged by this action and look forward to working with Open Banking lead Tachjian to ensure a competitive, customer-centric open banking ecosystem in Canada that boosts financial access and inclusion.

“Consumers and small businesses also should be pleased with this forward momentum. Around the world, open banking regimes have led to greater financial access and competition, lower pricing, improved financial outcomes. Canadian consumers have increasingly moved toward digital financial services, particularly throughout the pandemic. Today’s announcement is a meaningful step towards the realization of an innovative, customer-centric financial services system in Canada.”

In a letter to Freeland sent in early November 2021, FDATA said the Open Banking Lead should be responsible for working with industry to create the policy and governance standards under which open finance can be delivered in early 2023 as set forth in the report.

Members include air (Alliance for Innovative Regulation), APImetrics, Basis Theory, Betterment, BillGo, Codat, Brian J. Costello, Direct ID, Envestnet Yodlee, EQ Bank, Experian, finansystech, Fiserv, Flinks, Hank Payments, Interac, Intuit, Inverite, Kabbage, Mogo, Morningstsar, M Science, MX, Petal, Plaid, Questrade, RocketMortgage, SaltEdge, Trustly, ValidiFI, Vaultree, VoPay, Wealthica, Xero, and others.

February 22, 2022by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America Submits Comments to Canada’s Department of Finance in Response to 2022 Budget Consultation

February 22, 2022, Washington, DC – Today, the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America submitted comments to the Canadian Department of Finance, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Associate Minister Boissonnault as part of the Canadian government’s 2022 Pre-Budget consultation.

With the resumption of Parliament, and Budget 2022 planning well underway, our letter urged the Department to fully implement all phases of the Advisory Committee on Open Banking’s recommendations, which lay out a thoughtful, well-researched approach to building a “made in Canada” open finance system that puts consumers and small businesses at the center of a more competitive financial marketplace.

Our letter also clarified that the first step to achieving this important goal, and to provide market stakeholders with a legally binding policy framework under which such a regime can be delivered, is to appoint an Open Banking Lead, which should be responsible for working with industry and government stakeholders to create the policy and governance standards under which open finance can be delivered in early 2023.

We also called on the government to begin work on the Advisory Committee’s second phase, which must include write access – a critical component of account creation and account switching capabilities – as well as modernization of the Canadian Payments Act to ensure payments service providers, including credit unions and fintechs, have access to the critical Payments Canada system. As we say in the letter, these are thorny issues which require much consideration and engagement and will take time to get right.

FDATA Finance Canada Budget 2022 submission

Members include air (Alliance for Innovative Regulation), APImetrics, Basis Theory, Betterment, BillGo, Codat, Direct ID, Envestnet Yodlee, Equitable Bank, Experian, Finansystech, Fiserv, Flinks, Interac, Intuit, Inverite, Kabbage, Mogo, Morningstsar, M Science, MX, Petal, Plaid, Questrade, Rocket Mortgage, SaltEdge, Trustly, ValidiFI, Vaultree, VoPay, Wealthica, Xero, and others.

February 7, 2022by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America Submits Comments to OSFI’s Consultation on Technology and Cyber Risk Management

February 7, 2022, Washington, DC – Today, the Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America submitted comments to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) as part of its public consultation on Draft Guidance B-13: Technology and Cyber Risk Management.

Throughout the response, FDATA North America discussed the interplay between B-13 and the development of open banking in Canada, particularly that the harmonization of efforts between the Department of Finance’s open banking work and OSFI’s approach to third-party cybersecurity risk will be essential. FDATA North America’s Executive Director Steve Boms noted that as OSFI develops its technology guidelines for third-party technology partners to banks, “we respectfully offer that significant consideration has already been undertaken on this issue by the Department of Finance, and stakeholders would benefit from some form of public documentation that clearly distinguishes OSFI’s authority and responsibilities with regards to third-party financial technology providers from those of the Department of Finance as it works to implement a Canadian open banking system.” Boms noted that publicly clarifying how these two projects will interact will provide clear direction to the marketplace about how third-party providers can continue to offer their valuable financial services and products in an innovative, competitive marketplace.

Additionally, FDATA North America touched on the importance of clarification from OSFI that providers with whom consumers engage directly, without any intervention from their federally regulated financial institution (FRFI), do not fall under the B-13 framework. Thus, the goal of the consultation should be to ensure that FRFIs third-party risk management requirements mirror their ability to oversee entities with whom they have direct relationships, and not to overburden FRFIs with system-wide oversight that instead “should fall to a collaborative regulatory effort including Finance Canada’s open banking accreditation regime.”

Boms concluded by noting that in order to facilitate enhanced market competition and customer choice, “it is imperative that OSFI with the Department of Finance to harmonize regulatory expectations of customer-selected financial providers as open banking takes hold in Canada.”

FDATA North America Submission to OSFI’s B-13 Consultation on Technology and Cyber Risk Management

August 4, 2021by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America Applauds Release of Final Report of Canadian Advisory Committee on Open Banking

Contact: Kerrie Rushton, (202) 365-6338, [email protected]

August 4, 2021, Washington, DC –The Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America today issued a statement following Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s release of the report customer-directed finance (CDF) by the Advisory Committee on Open Banking. Executive Director Steve Boms said:

“This report is an important milestone in Canada’s move toward customer-directed finance, and in achieving a customer-centric, 21st century financial services marketplace that enhances financial access and boosts competition. Major markets around the world have implemented or are designing open finance regimes that give families and small businesses more control over their financial lives. The fintech community has worked tirelessly with policymakers over the last several years to ensure that Canadians are not left behind. We are grateful to Minister Freeland for finally moving this file forward.

“As we look forward to next steps of a Canadian CDF system, we urge policymakers to move quickly to begin implementation, and to ensure the framework allows for payment initiation and money movement use cases. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how important these services are to families and small businesses. The fintech community has supported Canadians during this crisis, offering seamless products that provide access to capital, payment and accounting services, and countless other applications. Payment initiation and money movement must be accounted for in this new regime.”

Members include air (Alliance for Innovative Regulation), APImetrics, Basis Theory, Betterment, BillGO, Codat, Direct ID, Envestnet Yodlee, EQ Bank, Experian, Fiserv, Flinks, Interac, Intuit, Inverite, Kabbage, Mogo, Morningstsar, M Science, MX, Petal, Plaid, Questrade, Quicken Loans, SaltEdge, Trustly, ValidiFI, VoPay, Wealthica, Xero, and others.

September 23, 2020by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America Options for Governance of Customer-Directed Finance in Canada

Earlier this year, Canada’s Open Banking Advisory Committee submitted recommendations to the Minister of Finance regarding the need for a customer-directed finance regime in Canada. Quite a lot has happened since then – both globally and in the financial technology sector – but the Department of Finance has continued to consider how to deliver customer-directed finance in Canada.

As the department enters the second phase of its consultative process, FDATA North America provided several suggestions that should act as a guide for the deployment of a successful open finance regime, gleaned from experience in other markets.

FDATA North America’s suggested governance models note that the core of any successful framework is a customer data right – and that only government can implement this open finance tenet, and that it is the foundation of every successful customer-directed finance framework globally. The document warns that a customer-directed finance model that defers decisions around data rights to industry results in an ecosystem in which incumbents are further empowered to determine how much control their customers may have over their data – to the detriment of competition, innovation and financial access.

As such, the document proposes governance models with the strong recommendation that industry alone cannot deliver customer-directed finance but can provide technology solutions that meet the policy standards set by government.

FDATA North America’s suggested governance models

ABOUT FDATA NORTH AMERICA
FDATA was heavily involved in the UK Open Banking Working Group in 2015. In 2016, the working group’s output was published by Her Majesty’s Treasury as the Open Banking Standard. FDATA North America was founded in early 2018. Its members collectively provide tens of millions of consumers in Canada, the United States and Mexico with aggregation-based tools to better manage their finances. Existing FDATA North America members include: air (Alliance for Innovative Regulation), API Metrics, Betterment, Direct ID, Envestnet Yodlee, EQ Bank, Experian, Fintech Growth Syndicate, Fiserv, Flinks, Interac, Intuit, Kabbage, Mogo, Morningstsar, M Science, MX, Petal, Plaid, Questrade, Quicken Loans, TransUnion, Trustly, ValidiFI, VoPay, Wealthica, Xero, and others.

January 31, 2020by rebecca rebecca No Comments

FDATA North America Statement on Department of Finance Canada Open Banking Report

FDATA North America Statement on Department of Finance Canada Open Banking Report

Contact: Kerrie Rushton, (202) 365-6338, [email protected]

January 31, 2020, Washington, DC – The Department of Finance Canada today released Consumer-Directed Finance: The Future of Financial Services, which is the result of more than nine months of consultation with stakeholders in the financial services and financial technology sectors. Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA) of North America Executive Director Steve Boms issued the following statement upon release of the report:

“When announcing these consultations back in January, Finance Canada said Open Banking ‘could better serve consumers and grow businesses and markets, contributing to the growth of the Canadian economy.’ That absolutely is true and this report from the advisory committee makes that evident.

“Now we get to the ‘how.’ How can stakeholders work together to create a system that puts consumers in control while safeguarding their privacy and security and introduces competition into the market? We look forward to continuing to work with Finance Canada to create a system that empowers individuals, families, and small business owners to take control of their financial lives.

“As Finance Canada has made clear, creating an Open Banking regime is a must-do task for Canadian lawmakers. The private sector, however, does not have to wait to start implementing consumer-centric open banking technology and services. Financial institutions, including those currently restricting their customers’ ability to take advantage of third-party tools, like CIBC, the Bank of Montreal and Scotia Bank, should not wait until they are forced to comply with government demands to let consumers be in control of their own data. They should start doing so now.”

In addition to its consultations with Finance Canada, FDATA North America has published white papers for Canadian and U.S. policymakers that outline the benefits of Open Banking and provide policy and oversight recommendations for lawmakers and regulators. “Opportunities in Open Banking” for the United States is here. The Canadian paper is here. FDATA North America analysis on the report’s findings is here.

Department of Finance Canada’s Report on Consumer-Directed Finance: The Future of Financial Services

ABOUT FDATA NORTH AMERICA
FDATA was heavily involved in the UK Open Banking Working Group in 2015. In 2016, the working group’s output was published by Her Majesty’s Treasury as the Open Banking Standard. FDATA North America was founded in early 2018. Its members collectively provide tens of millions of consumers in Canada, the United States and Mexico with aggregation-based tools to better manage their finances. Existing FDATA North America members include: The Alliance for Innovative Regulation, Betterment, Direct ID, Envestnet Yodlee, Fintech Growth Syndicate, Flinks, Intuit, Kabbage, Mogo, Morningstsar, M Science, MX, Petal, Plaid, Questrade, Quicken Loans, TransUnion, Trustly, VoPay, Wealthica and others.