Weekly FinTech & Financial News
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May 18-22, 2026
Top FinTech Updates this Week
💰 Relay, Toronto-based business banking and money management platform closed $50M USD ($69M CAD) from Silicon Valley’s General Catalyst to accelerate customer acquisition
🤝 Affirm, global BNPL player expanded partnership with Royal Caribbean, giving Canadian and U.K. customers new ways to pay for cruise bookings over time
🤝 1Password, a Toronto-based password management firm expanded its partnership with OpenAI in an attempt to help businesses deploy autonomous AI agents to securely build products with a new Codex integration launch
🚀 Revolut launched its first physical crypto debit card
🚀 Revolut is planning to launch its private banking services later this year for customers who have at least £500,000 to deposit
🚀 OpenAI introduced a new personal finance experience in ChatGPT that enables U.S. Pro subscribers to connect bank accounts, credit cards and investment accounts through Plaid
🚀 Moneris, Toronto-based payment solution provider launched Moneris QuickBooks Connector, a direct integration with Intuit QuickBooks Online
🚀 Lodavo, Montreal-based prize-linked savings app officially launched across Canada
💼 Shelter Lending, Kelowna, BC-based private lending firm acquired Accepted Financial Corp., Langley, BC-based mortgage investment firm to expand alternative mortgage solutions across Western Canada
💼 Goldman Sachs’ alternative investments division is buying QScale, a Levis, Quebec.-based AI data center colocation in partnership with the firm’s founders and management team
💼 Canada Life acquired Santé Circle Health, Toronto-based provider of disability management and occupational health services
Top Financial Institutions Updates this Week
🤝 Sardine, US-based agentic risk platform for fighting financial crime entered in a multi-year partnership with National Bank of Canada to strengthen digital banking security and fraud operations efficiency
🤝 Hydro Québec launches a new financing program worth over $5 billion intended for major wind energy projects in collaboration with the Canada Infrastructure Bank and National Bank of Canada
🤝 BMO entered in a first-of-its-kind collaboration with Best Buy Canada to help students prepare for the academic year with tools, guidance and programs designed to help post-secondary students make real financial progress
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Using a direct, automated data connection between the two platforms, Moneris QuickBooks Connector enables businesses to synchronize their Moneris payment transaction data into their QuickBooks account daily, reducing the need for manual accounting data entry. When a Moneris business activates Moneris QuickBooks Connector, the following actions occur automatically: Payment transaction data (sales and refunds) is transferred from Moneris into the business’s QuickBooks account each day; Moneris settlement amounts are matched with corresponding QuickBooks entries, accelerating the bank reconciliation process (the business’s bank account must be connected to QuickBooks for this to occur automatically, otherwise bank account transactions must be uploaded manually); In-store and online payment channels processed through Moneris are included in the data sync, and Businesses retain full visibility into synced data within QuickBooks. | Moneris
The launch addresses a growing threat in digital commerce. MTS combines Mastercard's network intelligence, cyber and identity capabilities, and real-time analytics to distinguish legitimate merchants from high-risk ones across both the onboarding stage and the merchant lifecycle. The service builds a dynamic trust profile of merchants by incorporating network and external digital signals. Key capabilities include early detection of scam merchants during onboarding or early in their lifecycle, and the Merchant Scam and Risk Indicator (MSRI), which provides issuers with real-time risk signals at the point of transaction to enable proactive fraud mitigation. | The Paypers
Payments Canada appointed Deana Djurdjevic as Chief of Staff to support strategic delivery
In this role, Deana serves as a strategic advisor and trusted partner to the President and CEO and Payments Canada’s executive leadership team. She will play a key role in accelerating the organization’s long-term vision, ensuring that complex initiatives are translated into clear, actionable outcomes. Deana brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in financial services and regulatory sectors. Most recently, she served as Chief Operations Officer and Chief Administrative Officer at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), where she led the development and operationalization of OSC’s strategy and delivered significant digital transformation initiatives. | Payments.ca
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The QCAD/USDC pair is available in the StableFX sandbox environment, demonstrating how Canadian dollar stablecoin liquidity will move onchain. This integration will transition to production following Arc mainnet launch, expanding stablecoin-based FX infrastructure for CAD/USD flows within the Arc ecosystem. For institutions, the combination of QCAD and StableFX offers distinct advantages over traditional FX markets: Minimal Settlement Risk; Capital Efficiency; Liquidity availability with T+0 (instant) settlement cycle and Programmable Compliance. | TMX Newsfiles
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The decision follows a live evaluation where Sardine improved fraud detection and reduced false positives, enabling National Bank of Canada to reduce unnecessary friction for its customers. Under the agreement, the bank will deploy Sardine’s device intelligence and real-time risk scoring across its retail, commercial, and wealth solutions. National Bank of Canada is also doubling down on their existing investment in Sardine by leading a $25M series-C extension round in the company, bringing Sardine’s total funding to $170 million. | Finextra
The company will become part of SoFi Technology Solutions, the segment that includes Galileo and Technisys. The combined platform will bring together processing, core banking and ledgering, payments, and risk and fraud capabilities. The deal adds another infrastructure layer to SoFi’s enterprise technology business, which has been expanding beyond consumer financial products into banking and FinTech services for third parties. | Coverager
The program is intended for Indigenous communities that have entered into a partnership agreement with Hydro-Québec as part of its Wind Power Development Strategy, for projects with a capacity of up to over 1,000 MW and scheduled for completion no later than December 31, 2036. This is a first milestone that will enable Indigenous communities to become investment partners in new energy infrastructure projects and generate recurring autonomous streams of income that can be allocated to priorities of their choosing. By removing a significant barrier to participation, the program helps foster a new model of energy development based on sustainable economic partnerships with First Nations and Inuit. The financing package of more than $5 billion, made available to the communities through a joint offering by the Canada Infrastructure Bank and National Bank, is divided between construction loans and equity loans, with the latter totaling up to $1.3 billion. | National Bank of Canada
BMO is combining its no-fee student banking offer with Best Buy Canada's national retail and online reach to give students more choice in how they prepare for the academic year. Eligible students who open and fund a BMO Student Chequing Account can receive a $200 Tech Reward and access a curated range of products from leading brands including Sony, JBL, Nespresso, Dyson and Google Fitbit. Best Buy Canada curated a thoughtful assortment of products designed to support and enhance every student's learning journey. | BMO
This achievement underscores BMO's continued innovation leadership by delivering client-focused digital experiences and solutions with its Mobile Banking app, achieving top rankings in categories including account management, alerts, digital money management, and security. EMARKETER's 2026 Canada Mobile Banking Features Emerging Benchmark is a ranking of leading Canadian financial institutions based on mobile banking service capabilities, weighted by customer demand on 42 features across six categoriesThis recognition demonstrates the ongoing success of BMO's Digital First journey and builds on the bank's strong track record of innovation that's recognized as industry-leading. | BMO
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Revolut launched its first physical crypto debit card
The new card features a Dogecoin-themed design and an LED display that lights up during contactless payments. Available to all POS terminals that accept Visa and Mastercard, the initial roll out covers the UK and and European Economic Area, with the exception of Hungary, Switzerland and Portugal. | Finextra
The plans come as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority granted permission for Revolut’s trading arm to expand into “leveraged products, private wealth services and managed portfolio solutions”. This would allow Revolut to accelerate its push to cater to a wealthier client base. The licence is the latest sign of the group’s improving relations with financial regulators. In March, it was awarded a full UK banking licence by the Prudential Regulation Authority after a four-year wait. The award is also a boon to Revolut’s wealth business, which has become a cornerstone of its business and has mainly focused on providing cryptocurrency services including trading. | Financial Times
This money comes out of General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund (CVF), which Relay co-founder and CEO Yoseph West said provides non-dilutive growth capital tied directly to customer acquisition performance. Relay will put this money towards performance marketing, sales, and partnerships that allow the company to reach more small businesses. Meanwhile, it will concentrate its existing capital on product development as it continues to build out its small business banking and money management platform. General Catalyst will be repaid from the lifetime value generated by those customer acquisition investments, up to a fixed cap. This financing comes two years after Relay closed $32.2-million USD ($4.4-million CAD) in Series B funding. | BetaKit
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ChatGPT’s new personal finance experience provides an integrated dashboard of balances, spending, subscriptions and upcoming payments. The feature combines GPT‑5.5’s reasoning with a user’s financial data and saved goals, enabling more contextual responses to questions about budgeting, investment trade‑offs, planning major purchases and tracking progress towards savings targets. It is offered in preview to a limited group and will expand after user feedback. | OpenAI
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As part of the transaction, Brad Currie, Managing Director of Accepted Financial Corp., will join Shelter Lending's leadership team. Brad brings over 30 years of experience in the mortgage industry, having built a highly respected lending platform known for strong broker relationships and practical execution. This acquisition represents another key step in Shelter Lending's long-term vision to become a nationally recognized leader in alternative lending. Shelter Lending remains focused on disciplined residential lending, strong broker partnerships, and providing practical mortgage solutions for borrowers who may not fit traditional lending channels. | Newswire
The companies revealed that approved Royal Caribbean customers in Canada and the United Kingdom can now select Affirm at checkout and split the cost of their booking into manageable payments. The customers will be able to see the full cost upfront and will not face late fees or hidden charges. The expansion builds on Affirm and Royal Caribbean’s existing partnership in the United States, which has also been renewed. In Canada, Affirm notes that rates range from 0% to 31.99% APR, subject to provincial regulations, eligibility checks, purchase amounts, and merchant availability. | Fintech.ca
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Canada Life and Santé Circle Health share a focus on improving recovery outcomes and helping people return to work and daily life with confidence. Santé Circle Health is recognized for its capabilities in early intervention, provider management and digital intake, supporting timely recovery and return to work outcomes. Santé Circle Health’s capabilities complement Canada Life’s existing disability case management strengths and create opportunities to improve outcomes over time. There are no changes today for Santé Circle Health employees, clients, or suppliers. Santé Circle Health will continue to operate as an independent organization with its own leadership team and employees. Over time, Canada Life expects to explore complementary opportunities that build on the strengths of both organizations and support improved member outcomes and experience. | Canada Life
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QScale’s founders are reinvesting alongside Goldman Sachs Alternatives and will continue to lead the business, which will keep its headquarters in Québec. Additional financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition comes amid an increased focus on ensuring that Canada has sovereign computing power not beholden to foreign interests, which to many means data centres that are not only located in Canada, but also controlled by Canadian entities. | BetaKit
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Power Corp and two of its operating companies, Great‑West Lifeco and IGM Financial, announced a combined $150M USD ($206M CAD) investment into a new Sagard AI Fund. The fund will back AI companies that are “accelerating the adoption of AI across financial services and other key sectors globally”. The fund is meant to provide Power Corp with access to global AI market intelligence, commercial partnerships, pilot projects, and application opportunities across its group of companies. To lead the effort, Sagard has brought in former Georgian lead investor Evan Kerr as general partner of the AI fund. | BetaKit
It is led by Sumeru Equity Partners with additional participation from current investor Edison Partners. This transaction will accelerate K1x’s position as a leading AI-native tax technology platform and enable the company to further advance their operation capabilities. K1x was purpose-built to serve firms that manage, report, advise, and facilitate private investments at scale. The company’s patented platform automates the extraction, aggregation, and standardization of complex K-1 tax form data, eliminating manual processes and enabling a fully digital, scalable approach to tax reporting. The investment is set to support an increased demand for Schedule K-1 tax form creation and reporting. | CIBC Innovation Banking
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OpenAI’s software engineering assistant Codex requires login credentials to tap into databases, application programming interfaces (APIs), and deployment pipelines. 1Password claims it has developed a more secure approach: with a new Codex integration that allows developers to grant Codex access to credentials directly inside their workflows without putting them directly into prompts or files. The company is doing this through its new 1Password Environments Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server for Codex, which it claims “ensures secrets never leave 1Password” with the help of a secure runtime environment where those credentials are “mounted, used, and discarded,” with user authentication required at access. | BetaKit
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Lodavo, Montreal-based prize-linked savings app officially launched across Canada
It is designed to make saving money feel more engaging by combining personal finance tracking with free weekly cash-prize draws. The app allows users to securely connect their bank accounts, track their savings progress, earn entries based on how much they save, and pick numbers for weekly draws. Unlike a traditional lottery model, Lodavo users do not pay to participate. Money remains in a user’s existing Canadian bank account, where it continues earning any interest already offered by that institution. Lodavo uses read-only access to verify balances and savings activity, and says it cannot move, withdraw, or charge funds from linked accounts. | Fintech.ca
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Stablecoin salary payouts are powered by BVNK. The new division signals Deel's strategic commitment to building the financial infrastructure that allows any business to pay any worker, in any currency, on any payment rail, anywhere in the world. Stablecoin salary payouts is its first major launch under dedicated leadership. The feature is available now for Deel EOR and global payroll customers with employees in the US, and across the Eurozone, with additional markets launching later this year. The employer enables it once; employees opt in once; stablecoins land in their wallet on every subsequent payday. The feature is free for employees. Deel handles payouts, compliance, and settlement in the background. No new vendor relationships, no new processes for the employer. | Business Wire
Last year, Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act, was split into two pieces of legislation after pushback over its proposed sweeping surveillance powers. Now, Bill C-22, the part of that legislation that would give law enforcement backdoor access to data and expand how long companies store user metadata, is on the table and tech leaders are not happy. Apple and Meta have urged the government to amend the bill, while some companies like Signal and NordVPN have said if the bill passes, they’ll leave the country altogether. More than a dozen civil liberties groups have signed an open letter calling on the bill to be withdrawn, and this week US legislators wrote to Ottawa to express concerns. | BetaKit
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