Technology is upending Canada’s financial sector, with ripple effects across industry, geography, and demographic.
For example, fintechs such as Toronto’s Wealthsimple allow Canadians to invest in companies for free from their mobile device—a far cry from calling up your Bay Street stock broker on a landline.
There are hundreds of startups across the country innovating various aspects of finance—and some are publicly traded, allowing you to own shares.
Below, we break down some of Canada’s most notable publicly traded fintech firms.
Payfare
A significant number of gig workers live pay-check to pay-check, with 78% facing difficulty covering unexpected expenses, according to Payfare, who offers financial services specifically designed for gig workers.
Addressing challenges faced by many in the emerging gig economy, the Toronto firm provides immediate access to earnings, bypassing traditional waiting periods and reducing reliance on payday loans, overdrafts, and credit cards.
Payfare operates across various sectors of the gig economy, from ride-sharing to food delivery, extending its services globally.
The firm’s recent quarterly earnings report highlights key figures for Payfare. A revenue of $46.5 million was reported for Q2 2023, indicating a 43% increase from the same quarter in the previous year. The company now has 1.2 million users.
Nuvei
Nuvei has been making headlines this year for partnerships (such as Plaid) and high-profile investors—among them renowned actor Ryan Reynolds. In April, the Vancouver celebrity Ryan Reynolds unveiled an investment in Nuvei.
Following that, the company announced a strategic partnership with Sylogist, a global software provider for non-profit and government organizations. In addition, the firm welcomed industry veteran Laura Miller to fill the newly formed role of Chief Revenue Officer and Global Head of eCommerce.
And all of these strategic moves come in the wake of Nuvei’s recent acquisition of US rival Paya.
The fintech stalwart also recently unveiled its financial performance for the first half of 2023, showcasing a surge in total volume and revenue—up 68% and 45% respectively. Nuvei is doing well enough, in fact, to introduce a dividend for shareholders.
Slated for payment on September 5, Nuvei’s inaugural dividend is set at $0.10 per share.
Propel
25% of Canadians are either unserved or underserved in the credit market, according to TransUnion’s “Empowering Credit Inclusion Global Report.” An emerging development between US national bank Pathward and a Canadian fintech is poised help shape this shifting financial landscape in Canada.
Backing this project is Toronto-based fintech Propel Holdings, which went public in 2021.
Propel will service the loans through its lending-as-a-service platform. This AI-powered tech takes on an array of tasks including customer service, collections, and applications—allowing Pathward to deliver a new line of credit while mitigating credit risk. The pair began collaborating last year.
As of late 2022, Toronto fintech Propel operates in Canada through Fora Credit, a “convenient online credit solution for underserved Canadian consumers.”
Since inception, Propel has generated more than $1 billion in originations and funded more than one million loans and lines of credit.
Mogo
Founded in 2003, Mogo is a Vancouver-based digital banking institution.
The BC fintech offers an array of services including loans, identity fraud protection, mortgages, a prepaid Visa card, and credit score viewing.
Last year, the company waded into the NFT market.
Mogo’s recent quarterly earnings call saw lowered revenue year-over-year but increased profit.
“Over the past year, we focused our team and resources on accelerating the path to profitability, narrowing our product focus and building a more efficient operating platform—one that will allow us to scale Mogo profitably over time while competing as a low-cost provider in our markets,” stated David Feller, Mogo Founder and CEO. “At the same time, we have our sights on future growth as we emerge from this period, with each of the three core pillars—Wealth, Payments, and Lending—expected to be profitable growth drivers for the business.”
Shopify
The long and storied history of Shopify is a pattern of innovating through tribulation. Established in 2006, the Ottawa commerce pioneer these days has a focus on non-fungible tokens as well as artificial intelligence technology.
Sidekick is a new feature the commerce titan unveiled recently. The AI-enabled commerce assistant is the centrepiece of Shopify Magic, which we suspect is what Lütke earlier referred to as his company’s “main quest”: a suite of all-new commerce-specific tools whose DNA is AI.
Shopify also recently launched Shopify Credit. Developed in collaboration with Stripe and Visa, Shopify Credit aims to address pain points of business credit cards. According to the company, the card scales alongside a merchant’s business, with credit limits based on their sales, not credit history.
The fintech recently reported its quarterly earnings, which saw revenue gains for the third quarter in a row.
Lightspeed Commerce
Lightspeed Commerce, a unified point-of-sale and payments platform, is riding a wave of “promising trends,” according to the Canadian fintech’s chief financial officer, Asha Bakshani.
“Customers who have adopted Lightspeed Payments are thrilled with the results, which is encouraging as we continue to roll out this initiative globally,” added chief executive JP Chauvet. “Our customers are recognizing that, unlike their experience on legacy systems and outdated terminals, the Lightspeed POS and Payments platform saves them time and money, allowing them to elevate the experience they provide to their customers.”
Revenues rose 20% to over $200 million, though the firm did not post a profit.
Lightspeed was founded in Montreal in 2005.
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