Fathom4sight Newsletter: This week's FinTech news curated by Fathom4sight!

Payments

Shopify revenues beat estimates but its guidance leaves markets cold - The company’s shares had been climbing in recent days in anticipation of its earnings release, as analysts expected that Shopify’s early-to-the-trend layoffs would result in positive metrics and give its shares a bump. The firm laid off 10 per cent of its staff in late July 2022, ahead of many other Canadian tech firms that cut staff amid a cooling economy.?| The Logic

Finance Canada proposed regulations for retail payment activities act open for public comment - Morrow-executive director of retail payments supervision at the Bank of Canada, has been leading the charge as the Bank lays the foundation to regulate entities facilitating retail payment functions in Canada, which includes FinTech companies of various sizes.?| Betakit

Virtual card transaction volumes to surpass $121B by 2027 - A new study has found the number of virtual card transactions, randomly generated card numbers linked to a payment account, will exceed $121B globally by 2027; increasing from $28B in 2022. This represents growth of 340%. It predicts rising integration of virtual cards to existing digital wallets services, such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, will drive this growth by exploiting existing substantial user bases of these digital wallets.?| Payments Cards & Mobile

Shopify president says company has no plans for another layoff - Shopify was among the first of the world's tech giants to lay off staff in a summer cut that impacted 1,000 workers — roughly 10% of staff. The company attributed the move to it misjudging the growth of the e-commerce sector. As a growing number of tech companies carry out successive rounds of layoffs, Shopify Inc.'s president says there are no more cuts in the works for the Ottawa-based e-commerce company.?| BNN Bloomberg

Visa CFO Is set to retire after firm gets new leadership - Visa Inc. said Chief Financial Officer Vasant Prabhu has been Visa’s CFO since 2015. He oversaw its finances at a time when profits soared, the firm added hundreds of millions of cardholders, and spending on its network more than doubled. I am grateful to have played a part in the tremendous growth of one of the world’s most well-respected brands during a time of inflection in the company’s history,” Prabhu said in the statement. “As I retire, I know that the company is well-positioned to continue to grow and take full advantage of the revolution in payments around the globe.”?| BNN Bloomberg

Toronto-based Clip Money Inc. announced non-brokered private placement - Clip Money Inc., a company that operates a multi-bank self-service deposit system for businesses, is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement of up to 1,538,462 units of the Company at a price of CAD$0.65 per Unit for gross proceeds of up to CAD$1,000,000. The Offering Size may be increased at the discretion of the Company.?| FinTech Futures

Vancouver-based PayTech platform RevoluGROUP ascended to 2023 top 50 companies on the TSX venture exchange - The company on this year's Venture 50 have achieved notable success and growth via public markets. The Venture 50 Awards is the stock exchange's recognition program showcasing the top-performing listed companies from five industry sectors: Clean Technology and Life Sciences, Diversified Industries, Energy, Mining, and Technology. RevoluGROUP Canada Inc. is a multi-asset, multidivisional, publicly traded Canadian Company deploying advanced technologies in; Banking, Mobile Apps, Money Remittance, Cross-Border Forex Payments, Mobile Phone Top-Ups, EGaming, Healthcare Payments, Esports, Invoice factoring, Online Travel, Vacation Resort, Blockchain Systems, and Fintech app sectors.?| Globe Newswire

Stripe’s $55B pitch to investors - The payments giant is growing faster this year than some of the biggest names in tech. It has a lot more potential lines of revenue than just its core payments business. And it’s grabbing loads of customers focused on artificial intelligence.?| The Information

Lending

With BNPL use booming, LendTech platform AfterPay urges Ottawa not to regulate it like a credit-card company - In the submission, Afterpay describes itself as a “global disruptor” and says it offers consumers a healthy alternative to credit cards. “Any policy should address the potential consumer harm that may be associated with a particular business model. Importantly, it should also recognize and encourage new products that provide better consumer outcomes compared to traditional credit products.”?| The Logic

Affirm’s stocks soar on first day of trading and pave way for massive growth in BNPL sector - On its first day of trading, Affirm’s stock value jumped from $49 per share to $100 per share. The San Francisco-based company offered 24.6M shares of its Class A common stock.?| FinTech Global

Vancouver-based LendTech firm Lendesk Technologies, announced partnership with Intellifi and Strive to streamline the lending experience for Canadian mortgage professionals - With this new technology, mortgage brokers can now digitally submit client documents directly from Lendesk’s digital mortgage platform, Finmo, to partner lenders via Intellifi. This solution will help simplify the fragmented, antiquated process used by nearly all Canadian lenders by providing a faster turnaround time for brokers and their clients. Strive will be Lendesk’s first lender to adopt the new, simplified method.?| DBusiness

Finastra and Integro Technologies to offer comprehensive digitalization and exposure risk offering for trade finance - Integro’s SmartLender has been successfully helping banks in Asia and the Middle East manage risk in trade finance for over 20 years. With Finastra’s global reach, banks around the world will be now able to combine SmartLender’s advanced exposure risk capabilities with Trade Innovation’s front-to-back capabilities for frictionless trade and supply chain finance.?| Fintech Finance News

Open Banking

Plaid partners with Okta-a US-based identity provider software development company to deliver secure and seamless access for Open Finance - Plaid and Okta are providing the integrations, education, and support to help all companies in the financial services industry transfer data through OAuth and API solutions. (OAuth is an industry-standard protocol for authorization that gives users more control over how their data is shared.) These methods do not require passwords to be exchanged between parties, reducing the reliance on credentials, and creating better and more secure experiences for consumers.?| Fintech Finance News

Small businesses in Canada adopting fast track open banking - Small business owners in Canada are increasingly adopting digital financial tools and technology into their day-to-day operations to drive growth, streamline processes and improve security. Fraud prevention and payment verification rank as the most appealing benefits of digital financial tools and technology. This highlights the increasing demand for secure, trustworthy open banking products and services, says Mastercard.?| The Fintech Times

Mastercard turns to Open Banking to support struggling businesses - Mastercard has added advanced analytics to its open banking platform, delivered by its subsidiary, US-based Finicity, in a move to supply small businesses with a more diverse range of credit lines and loans.?| The Fintech Times

Plaid rolls out Identity and KYC Integration in Canada - Plaid has announced that it will enable its identity verification and KYC solutions in Canada, to help users comply with Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) requirements.?| Finextra

Insurance

Vancouver-based insurance “super app” Goose Insurance raised $4M in Series A funding for its insurance offering - The round was led by Axis Insurance Managers, with participation from Impression Ventures, Real Ventures, and Manchester Story. The Vancouver-based company will use the funding to accelerate the adoption of its consumer-focused insurance super app in Canada and the U.S. through education and awareness initiatives.?| FinTech Global

Montreal-based InsurTech firm Equisoft acquires Canadian technology firm CompuOffice Software, Inc., adding life insurance analysis and research capabilities to its advisor platform - “This is an exciting acquisition that helps us deliver on our goal to support and empower advisors by building an end-to-end solution across carriers, distributors and advisors. It gives us increased access to the full network of Canadian life insurance stakeholders and presents exciting opportunities to share data analytics that reveal buying and performance trends,” said Equisoft founder and CEO, Luis Romero. “This acquisition reinforces Equisoft’s position within the financial services space as a leader in digital transformation solutions for all stakeholders.”?| Insurance-Canada.ca

Toronto-based SaaS platform Relay launched latest digital quoting solution: management liability for retail agents and brokers - Relay Management Liability allows retail agents and wholesale brokers to generate quotes in seconds and bind Management Liability policies leveraging the partnership and first-of-its-kind, direct API integration with Counterpart Insurance. Relay will support Management Liability coverages including Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPL), Directors and Officers Insurance (D&O), and Fiduciary Liability Insurance.?| Insurance Business Canada Magazine

Crypto & DeFi

Bitcoin surges 11% despite U.S. crackdown, as crypto market gains $84B in value - Bitcoin’s price on Thursday sat at its highest level since mid-August 2022. Last year, nearly $1.4T was wiped off the crypto market after turmoil which saw bankruptcies, failures of projects and companies. All that was topped off by the collapse of major exchange FTX.?| CNBC

Crypto giant Binance expects to pay penalties to resolve U.S. investigations - Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, expects to pay monetary penalties to settle existing U.S. regulatory and law-enforcement investigations of its business, the firm’s chief strategy officer said in an interview.?| The Wall Street Journal

Toronto-based digital asset investment fund manager 3iQ announces strategic partnership with BlockZero advisors - 3iQ's OCIO? is a newly launched program designed specifically to help institutional investors overcome the challenges of the evolving digital asset class. The Strategic Advisory Services component of 3iQ's OCIO? delivers customized executive, board and staff coaching programs, strategy advisory, dedicated support, and market intelligence. With BlockZero Advisors' expertise alongside that of 3iQ, OCIO? clients leverage the global knowledge of the two firms through an integrated offering.?| Newswire

Wealth Management

Laval-based WealthTech & PFM platform Croesus renews a 5-year agreement with Laurentian Bank of Canada - Croesus will provide the Bank with innovative wealth management solutions, including its portfolio management system, Croesus Advisor, and numerous productivity-enhancing features tailored to investment advisors.?| Benzinga

Toronto-based TMX Group confirms acquisition of US-based Wealth Management firm SigmaLogic - "We are proud to announce strategic investment to expand our information businesses with the acquisition of LOGICLY, an innovative provider of advanced insights and analytics tools for today's wealth management professionals," said Jay Rajarathinam, Chief Operating Officer, TMX Group. "TMX continues to explore new opportunities to augment our portfolio of information assets and expertise, to strengthen TMX Datalinx's value proposition for a growing global client base, and execute our long-term, sustainable growth strategy."?| Wealth Professional

Financial Institutions

RBC announces the launch of Ownr's in-app Business Credit Card - Eligible Ownr users can easily apply for an RBC Business Credit Card while registering their business — bringing more ease and convenience to entrepreneurs who are just starting out.?| LinkedIn

Others

Montreal-based capital market and investment firm Real Ventures partners with Panache to re-launch FounderFuel accelerator - FounderFuel general manager and Real Ventures partner Katy Yam said the accelerator program will continue to be run by the Real Ventures team. FounderFuel plans to admit eight startups to the four-month 2023 program, with Real Ventures, Panache Ventures, and Inovia Capital collectively making $120,000 CAD investments in each participating firm in exchange for an equity stake. Yam declined to disclose how much of this amount will be provided by each firm.?| Betakit

Newly-named Canada Innovation Corporation will see budget double to absorb IRAP - CIC’s budget has more than doubled to $2.6B over four years since the creation of the agency was first announced in Budget 2022. A blueprint document provided to BetaKit today attributed the budget increase to the government’s plans to move the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) under the CIC umbrella. IRAP has traditionally been part of the National Research Council?| Betakit