Northern Lights

Fintech is one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK, and that growth is being mirrored in a number of other countries that are watching the success of new financial services technology with interest.  

Canada is a good example: Canadians are increasingly adopting new payment technologies. The pandemic has seen a $110.8% jump in the nation’s online shopping, the usage of buy-now-pay-later services like the ones offered by Affirm, and contactless payments with mobile wallets like Google Pay and Apple Pay.  

As in many other fintech-savvy nations, much of this growth has been spurred on by Covid. A Payments Canada study found that 62% of Canadians were using less cash than they did pre-pandemic, with 53% using card or mobile payments for in-store purchases and 42% of respondents actively avoiding shopping at places that do not accept contactless payments, partly out of fear that they’d catch the coronavirus by paying with physical money.  

According to a recent report, ‘Cash transactions have consequently declined from 5.8 billion transactions in 2016 to 3.3 billion in 2020 due to the prevalence of electronic payment services and because of Covid-19.

GlobalData report

Regulation is helping. Earlier in 2021 Canada passed the “Retail Payment Activities Act, which aims to provide clear rules and to nurture innovation for payment processors, digital wallets, currency transfer services and other payment technology companies.  

That was further spurred on by the development of open banking is another key factor that could contribute to a flourishing fintech ecosystem for Canada to export. By allowing customers to decide who has access to their financial data – banks, insurance companies, startups – open banking should create a massive opportunity for Canadian startups ready to grow and expand to the UK.  

The UK, clearly, remains a prime market for overseas fintechs looking to set up and grow outside their home territories. Canadian companies will no doubt learn from the experience of many New Zealand companies that have made a similar journey to a successful launch in the UK.  

Paul Beare Ltd is one of the leading accounting firms specialising in helping overseas businesses set up in the UK. If you’re in need of advice or support in this or any other area, we’re right here for all your needs. You can contact us for help from tax and payroll to accounting and banking.