Canada

Until the technologies provide significant savings, cryptotokens threaten financial stability, and the risks of open access to central bank balance sheets are worked out, retail CBDCs are a long way off, writes Collin Canright, a fintech consultant.

Canada's financial consumer watchdog will strengthen its supervisory and enforcement teams, modernize its supervision approach to monitor banks more proactively, and enhance consumer information after reviewing bank sales practices.

A motivating speech from a female executive at the Ogilvy ad agency 15 years ago helped steer Denise Pickett to new heights at American Express. As did having a family willing to move to the U.S. from Canada.

This year, as PaymentsSource honors The Most Influential Women in Payments, a new pattern has emerged. This year's list recognizes the contributions of entrepreneurs who took their ideas directly to market, showcasing new ways of handling business in an industry that is forced to quickly adapt to rapid changes in technology and global culture.

It still surprises Debbie Gamble that a chance summer job she took at a bank turned into nearly a 30-year career leading to her current post influencing Canada’s payments technology at Interac, the national debit system.

Foreign inflows are distorting Canada's already constrained housing market and aren't the kind of investment the country needs, the chief executive officer of Royal Bank of Canada said.

Ant Financial’s Alipay is working with the Canadian payments processor Motion Pay Technology to push Ant's geographic reach in North America.

Money launderers are opportunists and the real estate sector is a weak link when it comes to regulation, writes Jay Ryan, an executive vice president at Accuity.

The nation's finance minister is set to overturn Bank Act restrictions that would have prevented credit unions from using words like "bank" or "banking" in their communications.

The Ontario-based CU will use Fiserv’s DNA platform to automate workflows.

Momentum is continuing unabated for blockchain projects and initial coin offerings as the potential for blockchain continues to be realized.

It would appear that momentum is continuing unabated for blockchain projects and ICOs (initial coin offerings), as the potential for blockchain continues to be realized.

Erminia Johannson's promotion is part of an effort by BMO Financial to generate more revenue from its U.S. operations.

R&D capabilities at Interac got a boost last month when Interac Corp. was created by merging Interac Association and Acxys Corp. It brought together a payments network handling nearly 5.7 billion debit transactions annually with a company specializing in payments development, management and consultation.

VersaBank, a Canadian lender led by a tech-savvy CEO with a penchant for planes and classic motorcycles, is building a virtual safety deposit box for cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.

Some of the most important work in payments happens before the transaction, when retailers have to make sure their devices can handle the new technologies and card types that are about to get thrust upon them.

Interac's e-transfer system has jumped in usage, and has become a gateway for myriad other services including a collaboration with MoneyGram.

The risk to Canada's financial system from tapped-out borrowers is merely shifting — this time to a market where there's no oversight from the country's national bank regulator and new stress-test rules don't apply.

The risks of fraud, along with the current reputation of such currencies as often being used for money laundering and other criminal activities, has caused worry in the market, writes John Verver, and advisor to ACL.

Royal Bank of Canada showed it can defy expectations even while being more selective in lending.