Weekly FinTech & Financial News
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Top FinTech Updates this Week
💼 Navacord, Toronto-based insurance brokerage firm and Acera Insurance, Canada-based insurance brokerage firm are merging to create the a largest privately held insurance brokerage, employee benefits and wealth advisory firm
💰 Instacart, US-based grocery technology company launches Instacart App in OpenAI ChatGPT – and is first to offer new instant checkout app experience
💰 Summit Commercial Solutions, Kelowna, BC-based national commercial insurance brokerage firm secures $7.5M Series A investment
💰 Partage Club, Montreal based social networking platform to lend things between neighbours raised $2.7M from BDC Thrive Lab, Desjardins’s Startup in Residence program, Mistral Ventures, and others
💰 Micruity, a Toronto based financial infrastructure for a secure retirement, raised US$20M in Series A for advancing retirement income solutions
🤝 PolicyMe, Toronto-based insurtech firm and Embark, Mississauga-based education savings and planning firm partnered to help families have a more complete approach to financial planning
🌟 NewCo Capital, US-based working capital provider a small business broker relaunched its Canadian arm as Bizcap Canada, integrating its existing team with Bizcap Group’s fast-growing global network
🌟 Chexy, Toronto-based rent and bill payment platform crossed $1B in annual run-rate volume
💰 Airwallex, global payments and financial platform for modern businesses raises $330M Series G at $8B valuation and establishes San Francisco as dual global headquarters
Top Financial Institutions Updates this Week
🌟 Bank of Canada held its target for the overnight rate at 2.25%, with the Bank Rate at 2.5% and the deposit rate at 2.20%
🤝 Meridian Credit Union, Toronto-based credit union partners with Personetics, an US-based AI-powered cognitive banking company to embed intelligent financial support into its enhanced advice experience, OnYourWay
💼 Alterna Savings and Tandia Financial Credit Union members approve merger with over 95% support
🌟 TD Bank Group President and CEO Raymond Chun, revealed that TD Bank implemented 75 artificial intelligence (AI) use cases that generated 170M CAD (about $122M) in value this year
🌟 Britain to launch a fast-track licensing regime for FinTechs allowing them to get up and running while they seek full authorisation
🤝 Central 1 and Collabria Financial secure a three-year extension to their agreement with the National Credit Card Program, comprising over 160 Canadian credit unions, extending the partnership through 2030
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Instacart, US-based grocery technology company launches Instacart App in OpenAI ChatGPT – and is first to offer new instant checkout app experience. Instacart is the first grocery partner to launch an app on ChatGPT and the first to offer an embedded, end-to-end shopping and Instant Checkout – all within the context of a ChatGPT conversation. This new integration makes it easier than ever for people to go from meal inspiration to doorstep delivery, using Instacart’s real-time grocery network and fulfillment capabilities with the help of OpenAI frontier model capabilities. | Instacart
Chexy, Toronto-based rent and bill payment platform crossed $1B in annual run-rate volume. According to a recent post by Austin Grant, working with innovative brands such as Aeroplan, American Express, and Fitzrovia has driven the company to accelerate progress, think more strategically, and continuously raise standards. Every month, more Canadians are turning to Chexy, whether to earn business-class seats or cover everyday expenses. As additional partners integrate into the platform, the impact will expand throughout the entire network. | LinkedIn
Airwallex, global payments and financial platform for modern businesses raises $330M Series G at $8B valuation and establishes San Francisco as dual global headquarters. The round led by Addition and with participation from T. Rowe Price, Activant, Lingotto, Robinhood Ventures and TIAA Ventures. The financing values Airwallex at $8 billion, a ~30% increase since its Series F six months ago. The investment will fuel Airwallex’s continued growth in the U.S. and key markets worldwide, while driving expanded AI hiring and product development. Underscoring its strong momentum and deep commitment to the U.S. market, Airwallex has established a second global headquarters in San Francisco and will deploy more than $1 billion from 2026-2029 to scale its U.S. operations, attract top talent, and expand its physical and brand footprint. | Fintech Finance News
Shopify merchants' products can now be discovered on AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot, as highlighted in the biannual Shopify Editions newsletter, titled 'The RenAIssance Edition. It includes over 150 product updates across the platform, many focusing on integrating and improving AI features for sellers. This includes agentic storefronts–an overhaul to Shopify’s AI-powered assistant Sidekick–and automations like a program to send an email to staff once a certain inventory level is reached. Building on Shopify’s early-access partnership with ChatGPT’s in-app shopping experience in September, agentic storefronts allow merchants to sell their products across popular AI chatbots once each product page is set up. Merchants define their schema, or the machine-readable code on a product’s page that gets picked up by web crawlers, and group products by attributes and metafields for AI agents to use when presenting products in searches. | BetaKit
Mollie, Europe-based SMB payments and money management platform to acquire GoCardless, UK-based paytech firm, creating Europe’s most complete payment platform. The strategic combination creates one provider serving over 350,000 businesses that integrates card payments, local methods, and bank payments into a single solution. By combining forces, Mollie and GoCardless will give businesses access to an unmatched suite of tools from a single partner, designed to solve these problems and fuel growth: A Scalable Partner for Every Merchant; Recurring Revenue Management; A Growth Engine for SaaS Platforms; Hyperlocal; Frictionless Global Expansion and An Integrated Offering including Mollie Capital for financing, advanced fraud monitoring, and powerful analytics. | Fintech Finance News
Klarna partners with Privy, a wallet infrastructure platform and a Stripe company, to develop simple, secure crypto wallet for the masses. The partnership aims to explore, research and co-design potential wallet solutions to power a new generation of crypto products for Klarna users. The agreement follows Klarna's recent launch of its own stablecoin, KlarnaUSD, in partnership with Tempo and Bridge. Now, the company is exploring building a wallet to make it easier for everyday people to actually use, store, and transact with crypto, lowering the barrier for mainstream adoption. | Klarna
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Bank of Canada held its target for the overnight rate at 2.25%, with the Bank Rate at 2.5% and the deposit rate at 2.20%. Canada’s economy grew by a surprisingly strong 2.6% in the third quarter, even as final domestic demand was flat. The increase in GDP largely reflected volatility in trade. The Bank expects final domestic demand will grow in the fourth quarter, but with an anticipated decline in net exports, GDP will likely be weak. Growth is forecast to pick up in 2026, although uncertainty remains high and large swings in trade may continue to cause quarterly volatility. | Bank of Canada
Meridian Credit Union, Toronto-based credit union partners with Personetics, an US-based AI-powered cognitive banking company to embed intelligent financial support into its enhanced advice experience, OnYourWay. Meridian is among the first financial institutions to deploy Personetics’ next-generation UI/UX framework, which is built for mobile and desktop access for a unified experience across channels, enabling Members to: Track their income and expenses with intuitive charts illustrating monthly fluctuations; Gain insight into monthly spending with categorized breakdowns; Receive alerts when subscriptions or bills rise, and track total subscription spending; Set budgets for each spend category, such as groceries, travel and entertainment; Establish savings goals for vacations, major purchases or other aspirations, with consistent progress tracking; Receive alerts for potential duplicate transfers or payments; For small business owners, enjoy dedicated financial insights and trackers for business accounts. | Fintech Finance News
Alterna Savings and Tandia Financial Credit Union members approve merger with over 95% support. The merger will take effect on December 31, 2025. While the legal name of the merged credit union will be Alterna Savings, both the Alterna Savings and Tandia brands will continue to operate during the transition to ensure a smooth and familiar experience for members. | Alterna
Central 1 and Collabria Financial secure a three-year extension to their agreement with the National Credit Card Program, comprising over 160 Canadian credit unions, extending the partnership through 2030. This extension reinforces Collabria’s position as the trusted credit card partner of choice for the NCCP and the vast majority of Canadian credit unions. Ninety-eight percent of Canadian credit unions, and their members, rely on Collabria-issued credit cards every day. The continued partnership ensures that credit union members will receive competitive, modern, and secure credit card solutions, supported by a partner who understands the credit union ecosystem for years to come. | Collabria Financial
TD Bank Group President and CEO Raymond Chun, revealed that TD Bank implemented 75 artificial intelligence (AI) use cases that generated 170M CAD (about $122M) in value this year. These use cases span from transforming loan underwriting to creating intelligent leads to deepening relationships to meet more of our clients’ needs. TD Bank Group expects these AI use cases to generate 200M CAD (about $143M) in incremental value in 2026 as the bank continues to “reimagine end-to-end processes". The bank’s ongoing investments in fraud modernization across capabilities, data, systems and processes delivered a 26% year-over-year decline in fraud losses. | PYMNTS
RBC partnered with JUMP Math, Toronto-based charity and social enterprise, to help provide more inclusive access to financial literacy education for more than 12,000 children living in underserved communities across Canada by 2027. Through RBC’s support, JUMP Math will give vulnerable children the opportunity to build math confidence, financial understanding, and long-term academic success through the creation of digital, interactive Financial Literacy lessons for Grades 4–9. These lessons will be offered for free to educators, families, and students on the JUMP Math Lab online learning platform. JUMP Math will develop and test the new digital interactive Financial Literacy lessons in early 2026 in underserved communities in Manitoba and Ontario. The digital content will be delivered in partnership with schools and community tutoring programs serving students at risk of falling behind in school. Once the testing is completed, free access will be expanded to educators and learners nationally in Fall 2026. | JUMP Math
CIBC expands its online booking platform, "CIBC by Expedia" to include a wide range of CIBC credit cards, enabling more clients to enjoy a seamless travel booking experience and access to Expedia Group's global travel network. Building on the success of the initial platform launch in 2024, which was available exclusively to CIBC Aventura cardholders, this expansion brings travel booking benefits to clients with CIBC Dividend, Adapta, Select, Classic, Business, and other CIBC credit cards, making travel planning and booking easier. With CIBC by Expedia, clients can plan, book and make changes 24/7 through a Virtual Assistant, and access Expedia Group's market-leading inventory, including 900,000+ hotels and vacation rentals, 500+ airlines, 100+ car rentals, and 200,000+ activities, all through CIBC Online and Mobile Banking. | CIBC
TD Asset Management Inc. expands its lineup with the introduction of a global private credit strategy. Institutional investors in various jurisdictions will have access to TDAM's latest alternative investment solution, the TD Greystone Global Private Credit Fund. TDAM's sub-investment grade credit strategy will invest across the capital stack, including senior secured, junior secured and subordinated debt. The Fund provides open-ended, broadly diversified private credit exposure across various markets, including direct lending (middle market corporate credit), real estate debt, infrastructure debt and specialty finance markets without the need to navigate multiple fund vintages. | TD Bank
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The Canada Revenue Agency’s crypto tax crackdown has recovered millions of dollars in unpaid taxes, but no criminal charges have been filed. While the agency says up to 40 per cent of taxpayers who use cryptoasset platforms either haven't filed their taxes or are at high risk of non-compliance, no criminal charges have been laid since 2020. A team of Canada Revenue Agency "cryptoasset auditors" has been mining a rich seam of unpaid taxes, working on more than 200 files and reaping more $100 million in the last three years. However, the agency's top crypto auditor says in related documents that the CRA believes "there is no way to reliably identify taxpayers operating in the crypto space and assess compliance" with income tax reporting obligations. | LinkedIn
Malaysia's Royal unveiled a ringgit-backed stablecoin designed for cross-border trade and attracting foreign investment spanning the APAC region. Malaysia's king's eldest son launched a ringgit-backed stablecoin, RMJDT, aimed at enhancing cross-border trade and attracting foreign investment in the Asia-Pacific region. The stablecoin, with an initial supply of 500 million tokens, is backed by ringgit cash deposits and short-term local government bonds. The Asia-Pacific region is the fastest-growing market for stablecoins, with 56% of institutions already using them for payments and treasury purposes. | CoinDesk
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Navacord and Acera Insurance, Canada-based insurance brokerage firms are merging to create the a largest privately held insurance brokerage, employee benefits and wealth advisory firm. The transaction, which is structured as a plan of arrangement under Alberta corporate law, is subject to achieving regulatory, court and shareholder approvals and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026. The organizations are expected to represent a combined strength of $7.2 billion in insurance and employee benefits premium, $7.5 billion in retirement assets under management, 5,000-plus insurance and financial services professionals, and more than 150 locations nationwide. | Insurance-Canada.ca
Summit Commercial Solutions, Kelowna, BC-based national commercial insurance brokerage firm secures $7.5M Series A investment. Sorathia Holdings and Greenlight Re Innovations have joined as new investors for a Series A round of investment led by a group of strategic insurance and technology investors, including existing investor IA Capital. The funding will be used to expanding Summit’s footprint across Canada, with new offices, expanded talent acquisition vertical, focusing on bringing new talent to the industry, and deeper presence in key markets. | LinkedIn
PolicyMe, Toronto-based insurtech firm and Embark, Mississauga-based education savings and planning firm partnered to help families have a more complete approach to financial planning. Designed to help Canadian families prepare financially for the future, the partnership provides tools that address both education savings and life insurance protection, empowering parents to make informed decisions that safeguard their household’s financial well-being. Through this partnership, Embark clients are introduced to PolicyMe’s digital life insurance platform after opening an RESP account. Parents can then easily explore coverage options that protect their household and provide long-term financial security. While RESP and life insurance are separate products, this collaboration helps families plan comprehensively, helping ensure children’s educational futures while protecting loved ones from financial hardship in the event of a sudden loss. | Business Wire
Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), Winnipeg-based crown corporation launches ' Licence Lookup' tool to give businesses, organizations, and Manitobans a new online option to access an MPI service. Many businesses and organizations require employees, volunteers and others to have a valid driver’s licence. Licence Lookup allows employers to check the status of a driver’s licence and understand any restrictions a driver may be required to follow. | Insurance-Canada.ca
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People Corp, Winnipeg-based group benefits provider which is owned by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is planning to raise about $500M from private credit lenders. The proposed financing would be done through a payment‑in‑kind note (PIK) linked to a holding company. That structure allows the borrower to defer interest payments rather than pay cash currently. The funds raised are intended to fund a payout to shareholders, effectively letting the company pull the cash out for distribution. | Bloomberg
Micruity, a Toronto based financial infrastructure for a secure retirement, raised US$20M in Series A for advancing retirement income solutions. The round was co-led by Rebalance Capital and Nationwide Ventures, with participation from J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Reinsurance Group of America, Guardian Life, Collab Capital, State Street Investment Management, and TIAA Ventures. Existing backers, including Allianz Life, Prudential Financial, Western & Southern Financial Group, Pacific Life, and SixThirty Ventures, also supported the new round. The latest investment brings Micruity’s total funding to $27M. Micruity aims to address long-standing challenges in the retirement ecosystem, where 401(k) plans were built primarily for savings rather than lifetime income distribution. | Pulse 2.0
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Microsoft to spend $7.5 billion on AI data centre expansion with pledge to protect Canada’s “digital sovereignty”. The funding will go towards expanding computing capacity at Microsoft’s two primary Azure data centre regions: Toronto’s Canada Central and Québec City’s Canada East. Smith claims that the expanded data centres will power everything from modernized public services to advanced AI innovation. He expects this new capacity to begin coming online during the second half of 2026. In tandem with this data centre expansion, Microsoft is also launching a five-point, company-wide plan that it claims will “promote and protect Canada’s digital sovereignty,” an initiative it claims is “as important” as its investment in AI infrastructure. | BetaKit
Cohere, Toronto-based enterprise AI platform partnered with Thales Canada, subsidiary of French defence company to provide its AI tech as it courts clients in the defence and security sectors. Thales Canada will use the Cohere services to help fulfill its operation and maintenance contracts with the Department of National Defence, as well as combine Cohere’s tech and expertise with its in-house AI accelerator division, cortAIx. The partnership marks one of the first deployments of Cohere’s AI tools to the Canadian Armed Forces. So far, Cohere has partnered with enterprise clients across sectors where data security is a top priority, including healthcare and financial services. It has also partnered with US defence software company Second Front Systems, which contracts with the US Department of Defense. | BetaKit
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NewCo Capital, US-based working capital provider a small business broker relaunched its Canadian arm as Bizcap Canada, integrating its existing team with Bizcap Group’s fast-growing global network. The move brings the same trusted Canadian team onto a significantly stronger platform, enabling Bizcap Canada to deliver greater value to businesses through an enhanced funding model offering smaller periodic payments, better pricing, and faster approvals. As part of the relaunch, brokers will also gain access to a new Partner Portal built specifically for their needs, streamlining opportunity management, submissions, tracking, and deal visibility from end to end. The relaunch also represents the company’s strategic consolidation under the Bizcap name, aligning operations across Canada with a broader global identity that spans Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the US, the UK, and Europe. | Bizcap
Klarna expanded its membership program with the introduction of Premium and Max plans for U.S. consumers building on its existing Core and Plus plans in partnership with WebBank, the issuer of Klarna Card. Klarna’s memberships deliver premium perks, including airport lounge access, travel insurance, and lifestyle subscriptions, without taking on debt or hitting a spending requirement. The membership program is provided in partnership with WebBank, the issuer of the recently announced Klarna Card, a debit product combined with access to built-in flexible payment options. U.S. consumers who sign up for the Klarna Card can also opt into any of Klarna’s four membership plans—Core ($4.99 /month), Plus ($9.99/month), Premium ($19.99/month), or Max ($44.99 /month)—during the sign-up process. | Fintech Finance News
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Tuhk Inc, Toronto-based real-time data collaboration and fraud prevention platform secured US$6M in seed funding led by FINTOP, with participation from Lloyds Banking Group and Capital One Ventures. The platform aims to revolutionize payments by enabling secure, real-time collaboration among merchants, banks, and service providers to combat the global US$10.5 trillion cybercrime threat. Tuhk's distributed platform transforms fragmented data into a cohesive intelligence network, designed to proactively neutralize fraud, maximise transaction approvals, reduce chargebacks, and streamline dispute resolution – all of which supports better service for genuine customers. The funding will be used to supercharge Tuhk's imminent launch in the UK, US, and Canada alongside major banks and merchants, delivering rapid validation through real-world deployments that showcase its fraud-fighting prowess against first-party fraud and misuse. | PR Newswire
Trulioo, a Vancouver-based an identity verification platform joins Google’s Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) to help build trust in agent-led payments. This move deepens Trulioo’s collaboration with Google, which leverages the Trulioo Global Identity Platform for Know Your Customer (KYC) verification across its payments organization, including fraud prevention and abuse mitigation. As part of AP2, Trulioo will bring its expertise in identity verification and trust infrastructure to demonstrate how the Digital Agent Passport (DAP) can be used in conjunction with AP2 to convey trust for agent-led transactions. In tandem with the Trulioo Know Your Agent (KYA) framework, the DAP will introduce a verifiable trust layer within the existing AP2 framework, serving as a neutral trust fabric that ensures every digital agent is authenticated, authorized and accountable before transacting. | Fintech Finance News
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Nubank, Brazil-based neobank applies for U.S. National Bank Charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) of the United States. This undertaking is aligned with the company’s intention to explore future international opportunities by evolving its regional platform into a global model. Pursuing a U.S. national bank charter positions Nubank to unlock new possibilities within the U.S. financial landscape. | Nubank
Enova International, US-based online financial services company signed a definitive agreement to acquire Grasshopper Bancorp, Inc., and its wholly owned subsidiary Grasshopper Bank N.A. at approximately $369M. Grasshopper is a client-first, full-service digital bank founded in 2019 with more than $1.4 billion in total assets as of September 30, 2025. Grasshopper offers digital financial solutions for commercial and consumer customers, including fintech-focused Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and API banking platforms, commercial and Small Business Administration lending and consumer banking. This transaction unites two complementary, market-leading businesses combining Enova's consumer and small business online lending capabilities and with Grasshopper's digital banking infrastructure to create a stronger, more diversified financial services provider. | PR Newswire
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FrontFundr, a Toronto-based crowdfunding platform that allow public to crowdsource investing into private companies, is helping Gander Social, Ottawa-based social networking app, raise funding. Interested investors are able to buy in with as little as $255, at a price of $1.50 per share, which grants them access to a private owners group within the social platform, extra invites to bring users onto the platform before its public release, and access to Gander’s annual general meeting. Gander founder states that raising equity from the Canadian public is in line with the app’s mission of collaborative ownership. | BetaKit
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Britain to launch a fast-track licensing regime for FinTechs allowing them to get up and running while they seek full authorisation. Under the new system, firms meeting “robust” entry criteria will be able to operate provisionally and carry out some regulated activities for up to 18 months, subject to safeguards, as they complete the full licensing process. Britain's Financial Conduct Authority has faced criticism from FinTechs that its approval process is too lengthy and costly, choking investment and slowing expansion. The government has also asked the FCA to ease the regulatory burden. The proposed regime would help remove barriers to entry for startups. The finance ministry said the FCA would set out more detailed eligibility criteria. | Reuters
Partage Club, Montreal based social networking platform to lend things between neighbours raised $2.7M from BDC Thrive Lab, Desjardins’s Startup in Residence program, Mistral Ventures, and others. The round led by local investor Frédéric Bastien, with participation from BDC Thrive Lab, Desjardins’s Startup in Residence program, Mistral Ventures, and other angel investors. After winning Startup of the Year at Montréal’s Startup Community Awards in 2024, it has now onboarded hundreds of users and has partnerships with more than a dozen cities and municipalities across Québec. The app functions as a type of Facebook Marketplace with one rule: no selling. | BetaKit
Tracktile, an Charlottetown based manufacturing software for SMBs in the food and beverage industry raised $1.25M from BDC Seed Venture Fund. The round was co-led by BDC Seed Venture Fund and Island Capital Partners, with participation from Graphite Ventures. The company intends to use the funds to enhance its AI capabilities, expand its sales team, deepen its footprint across North American food and beverage manufacturers and grow into other complex manufacturing segments. | FinSMEs
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