Changes to Canada’s banking regulations and payment infrastructure are creating new opportunities for Calgary fintech companies to develop faster, more flexible financial products.
The federal reforms — through the Consumer Driven Banking Act and Real-Time Rail payment system — are intended to lower barriers for new competitors and create new ways for qualified companies to securely access financial data and participate in Canada’s payment systems.
That could lead to new financial services for businesses and consumers, from faster supplier payments and automated expense reimbursements to tools that let employees access their earnings more frequently.
What is changing under Canada’s new banking regulations?
Canada is changing how people and businesses share financial information. Today, using some third-party budgeting, investing or payment apps can require customers to share sensitive banking details.
The Consumer-Driven Banking Act will create a more secure way to share selected information with approved providers, allowing companies to build tools that bring accounts from different banks into one place or automate financial tasks.
By giving customers greater control over who can access their financial information, the framework could help Calgary fintechs develop a wider range of products and compete more directly with established financial institutions.
“It expands the breadth of products and services that I could access, expands competition in the market, which helps with cost structure,” said Pamela Draper, President of Calgary-based fintech firm DCPayments.
The Real-Time Rail will allow money to move between participating institutions within seconds, around the clock.
Together, the changes could let businesses pay suppliers as soon as an invoice is approved, reimburse employees immediately and receive customer payments faster. Consumers could use apps to automatically pay bills, move money into an account offering a better interest rate or speed up a loan application by securely sharing their financial history.
For Calgary businesses, Draper says faster payments could provide more immediate access to the money they need to operate and grow. A contractor, for example, could receive payment for a completed job and use those funds sooner to purchase supplies, pay down debt or prepare for the next project.
“Reducing that wait by one to five days can be very significant in terms of the operating capital that they have available to them,” Draper said.
How Calgary fintechs can capitalize on the changes
DCPayments — alongside its sister company DCBank — is among the local companies positioned to capitalize on the changes. Draper says the company has participated in Payments Canada’s Real-Time Rail working group and that it will be the only tech-enabled bank launching in the system’s first wave.
They plan to use the new technology to help fintechs and other businesses access real-time payment infrastructure without having to build and manage the underlying systems themselves.
“There’s not another bank in the first wave that is offering this product, so anyone in the country that wants to access the real-time rail for their business day one would have to come through us,” Draper said.
That gives a Calgary-headquartered company an early role in helping businesses across Canada adopt the new payment system. It could also help fintechs scale more efficiently by automating payment processes rather than adding staff and costs as transaction volumes grow.
Why is Calgary well positioned for fintech growth?
The changes arrive as the Blue Sky City's fintech and technology sectors continue to gain traction.
Calgary is home to 150 fintech startups working across payments, digital banking, lending, wealth management and other areas, according to Tracxn. The city is also home to leading fintech companies including Neo Financial, Helcim, Zayzoon and DC Bank.
Calgary recorded the fastest tech job growth rate among major North American markets analyzed by CBRE. The city’s tech workforce grew 61.1 per cent between 2021 and 2024, adding 24,500 workers to reach 64,600.
“Calgary has the financial expertise, technology talent and entrepreneurial culture to help shape the future of financial services,” said Brad Parry, President and CEO, Calgary Economic Development.
“These reforms can open the door to more competition and give local companies new ways to solve real challenges for businesses and consumers. Calgary has the foundation to turn that opportunity into new products, investment and economic growth.”
The opportunity aligns with Uplook: An Action Plan for Our Economy, which identifies innovation and a competitive business environment as key drivers of Calgary’s long-term economic growth.
Learn more about Calgary’s thriving financial services and technology sectors.