Several prominent Canadian fintech companies, including Wealthsimple, EQ Bank, Wise, and industry group Fintechs Canada, have launched a concerted effort to mobilize public support for government action on open banking and modernizing payment systems.
The “Choose More” campaign aims to inform both Canadian individuals and businesses about the manifold advantages of open banking and the adoption of real-time payments. Their central message, as highlighted on the campaign’s website, is, “Canadians deserve a banking system that empowers them to retain more of their hard-earned money. It’s high time to call on the government to upgrade Canada’s financial infrastructure.”
This initiative comes on the heels of a three-year government investigation into whether Canada should follow the United Kingdom’s example by facilitating third-party financial services providers’ access to individuals’ banking data. While the government has shown gradual movement towards establishing an open banking framework, many within the industry express frustration with the pace of progress. Interestingly, the majority of consumers remain largely unaware of these ongoing developments.
In June Deloitte survey found that only 18% of those quizzed were familiar with the concept of open banking, although the percentage among 18- to 34-year-olds rises to 35%. Just 35% of Canadians said they comfortable sharing their data online, rising to 45% once the framework is implemented.
The Choose More campaign is hoping to change this by highlighting how open banking can save Canadians save money by cutting fees through greater choice.
The campaign is also targeting the Canadian payments system. In June, Payments Canada said it will conduct a second review of its proposed Real-Time Rail (RTR) payments system, pushing the delivery deadline for the troubled project further into the future.
Says the campaign website: “Payments modernisation provides faster and lower cost options for sending and receiving money, and Canada is falling behind the rest of the world.”
To know more about other trending usecases in the US financial services industry, like Generative AI, Open Banking, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), explore our other insights.
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