« Older Entries

Reasons Behind the Growth of FinTech in Canada

The Bank of Canada recently announced that they would be issuing CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) as part of its contingency planning. However, the bank is concerned about underinvestment in safety by FinTechs. The bank is planning to introduce separate taxes and subsidies to encourage safety in the FinTech ecosystem.

Quick facts:

The primary focus for FinTech lenders is not short-term loans. 88% of the FinTech loans are between 13-60 months.
The ‘underbanked’ population isn’t the only one benefiting from FinTechs. 51% of FinTech customers have more than two credit products.
Although the FinTech industry is in its infancy in Canada, with 61% of FinTech startups founded during 2012-2017, FinTechs holds 25% of the Canadian PayTech market.
Image Source: PWC

Reasons Why Fintech is Flourishing in Canada?
As Mukul Ahuja, the leader of financial services, insurance strategy, and AI with Deloitte, pointed out that FinTech is a broad industry. Considering the current financial technology adoption, there are ten areas in FinTech that range from personal finance management to insurtech.

The Canadian market is exciting as it has followed the global market trends, with the recent pace of adoption picking up steam. The market holds around a thousand FinTech companies, and every day there is a new one popping up.

The following are some of the reasons why there are considerable scope for Fintech in Canada:

PAYTECH IS NO. 1
With around 25% market share, PayTech is the leader of the FinTech industry in Canada. The term PayTech involves FinTechs, mainly focused on savings and payments, deposits, which are often tied to banking and financial giants in Canada. Needless to mention that PayTechs are not involved in insurance, mortgages, wealth advisory services, and lending.

PayTech players in the Canadian market include Koho, Paytm Canada, etc. Koho offers a no-hidden-fees bank account with full digital banking services, whereas Paytm Canada is a dynamic mobile payments app.

Moreover, the traditional banks have also started creating their own version of FinTech. For instance, Meridian Credit Union launched Motus Bank as its own challenger to cater for digital-savvy customers. Also, the CIBC rebranded themselves as a virtual bank – Simplii.

TORONTO IS THE HUB
Canadian FinTech growth is considered to be fueled by the Toronto-Kitchener-Waterloo corridor. A report in 2019 by TFI (Toronto Finance International) states that this region holds 20-plus incubators/accelerators and 194 startups, boasting a CAGR of 118%, which is among the world’s highest.

Many Canadian financial institutions are headquartered in Toronto. This makes Toronto the best place for FinTechs to do business, whether the intention is to either compete with the financial institutions or complement them directly.

Wealthsimple and League are among the homegrown exceptional FinTechs companies dealing in online brokerage and health-insurance respectively. Both of these FinTechs made themselves to the FinTech 100 list for three consecutive years – 2016, 2017, and 2018.

AI DRIVES FINTECH — AND CANADA IS THE HOTBED
Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced data analytics are among the most used advanced technologies that drive FinTech innovation. At the same time, Canada is the powerhouse for AI and, therefore, an excellent fit to reap the benefits of AI in FinTech. On the one hand, Montreal is the host to the most extensive concentration of deep learning students and researchers globally. On the other, Toronto is home to the highest AI startups globally.

Tags:

5 Minute Guided Meditation for Mental Health Mindfulness

The world is getting increasingly fast-paced, and the more we put off catching up, the wearier we get. Life appears to be claiming more and more of our time and energy, and as a result, the relationship between mental health and mindfulness is getting popular. Mindfulguides encourage doing 5-minute best-guided meditations every day. Every day, we must juggle money, careers, families, health, and social lives, all of which take a toll on our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. You don’t have to go it alone if you want to start meditating. For better sleep, reduced worry, self-healing, and more awareness try this easy meditation for beginners.

Make yourself at ease and take a deep breath. Sit with your back straight in a chair. Under your knees, place your feet flat on the floor. Relax your arms while resting your palms on your thighs. Look straight ahead, but don’t fix your gaze on anything in particular. Instead, pay attention to everything in the room at the same time. Start with taking a deep breath and feeling your feet. Feel them making contact with the ground or the inside of your shoes. Feel the humidity, the temperature, and the texture of your socks. From the inside, pay close attention to your feet. Don’t “think” about them; simply “feel” and “sense” them.
Pay close attention to your body. Move your focus to your calves after a few breaths. For many breaths, feel and sense them. Then, from your legs to your bottom against the chair, to your belly and lower back, chest and upper back, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, face, and finally, your head, transfer your attention from body part to body part. Then, at the same moment, let your awareness encompass your entire body. The goal of this mindfulness meditation exercise is to use your attention to “scan” your body, pausing for a few breaths on each component. This exercise will improve your ability to focus and direct your attention and is employed in the women empowerment course.
Thank You for Sharing Your Mind. You may find that as soon as you sit down, you begin to recall events and feel compelled to act on them. This is a normal component of the procedure. When such ideas arise and attempt to divert your attention away from your body, simply repeat softly to yourself, “Thank you for sharing,” and return your focus to your body. If you’re uncomfortable or frustrated and want to quit, simply sit still. Know that the discomfort you’re experiencing isn’t due to the exercise; rather, it’s something that happens when you become aware of your baseline condition. The first step in dissolving this underlying condition and reclaiming the energy it drains is to become aware of it.
Anytime, Anywhere: Use Mindfulness Meditation. This strategy may be employed in any stressful scenario, such as a business meeting or a packed subway journey during rush hour. When we are apprehensive, our unconscious thoughts are interpreting, judging, measuring, and anticipating, using essential energy, and increasing worry. We regain that squandered energy by refocusing our attention on our bodies and breath.

Tags:

Top 5 Financial Technologies in 2020

The ongoing rise and growth of digital technologies like AI, ML, IoT, and Blockchain several industries around the world are withstanding a significant disruption. Even the financial sector is ready to transform with the escalation of investment in financial technologies

In the world of the financial sector, financial technologies are the innovative breakthrough which has given the industry an opportunity to offer personalised financial services with increased security. In simple terms, the idea of digital transformation in the financial sector revolves around transforming traditional financial services to more simple and straightforward digital financial services.

Digital transformation of financial services sails on the financial technology development efforts made by financial institutions to meet the customer expectations. The digitisation of financial services not only makes the delivery of financial services convenient, but also it streamlines the entire process which results in a reduction of operational costs and strengthening security.

Rise of FinTech Application Development
Emerging technologies in financial services industry have evolved over the years and made it possible for developers to develop secure and convenient fintech applications. Now, it has become possible for fintech businesses to stay compliant with the fintech regulations. Fintech services like eWallets, UPI payments, digital banking, online trading, and many others are reshaping the world of finance.

What are Financial Technologies?
Before we dive further into the world of financial technologies, let’s understand what these are. Financial technologies are advanced technologies that help financial institutions deliver their services with ease and convenience. The emerging technologies in financial services industry have even introduced new business models and financial services.

The modern customer looks for the services that are easily accessible and offer them quick responses promptly without making them wait for long. Thus, the traditional model of delivering financial services will go into oblivion in the coming times as the fintech business model will gain its momentum.

According to a recent report by Statista, China holds the top position in the fintech market with overall transactions valuing at USD 1,596 billion in 2019. Another report states that the fintech market will grow to USD 381 billion in 2022 from USD 151 billion in 2017. The statistics indicate that it is a multi-billion dollar industry and will continue to grow rapidly.

Tags: