Canadian financial technology companies starting up in Vancouver and Toronto are disrupting traditional banking, the Canadian way.
Known world-over as one of the safest banking systems makes this nation’s infrastructure an ideal hub for experimenting with any shakeups. The online lending space is shaking things up the most, not only by competing with traditional financial institutions but also by partnering with them.
Lendful Financial Inc., a Vancouver-based financial technology or FinTech firm, is partnering with Alterna Bank – a subsidiary of Alterna Savings & Credit Union. A $15 million investment from Alterna will back Lendful in the race to lead the Canadian market place which is the stepping stone to the global market.
The investment injection will be felt immediately as it enables more security and competitive interest rates to online borrowers. The concept of online lending is to offer income and credit qualified borrowers better access to small and medium sized-loans.
Last year another Vancouver FinTech company Grow, formerly Grouplend, made headlines for raising an additional round of financing in the form of $10.2 million just 10 months after its launch. Investors included Markus Frind of PlentyofFish – the Vancouver-based dating service with over 100 million users that was sold to Match Group for $575M USD.
Written by: Amar Mirchandani @amarmirch
