Fintechs Canada appoints new board ahead of election year

Fintechs Canada has appointed a new board of directors for 2024-25, which includes representatives from Borrowell, Flinks and Wealthsimple, in preparation for a federal election year.

Borrowell chief executive officer and co-founder Andrew Graham

Andrew Graham, co-founder and chief executive officer of Borrowell, is one of seven industry leaders to have joined Fintechs Canada’s board and he has also assumed the role of chair of the board.

The rest of the board of directors comprises Anne Butler, chief legal officer at Peoples Group, Jessica Oliver, head of government and regulatory relations at Wealthsimple, Ben Harrison, partner, head of partnerships and policy at Sagard, nanopay’s founder and chief executive officer Laurence Cooke, as well as Dominique Samson, vice president of corporate affairs at Flinks and Peter Aceto, Koho’s chief banking officer.

Borrowell’s Graham called it “a critical time” for the fintech industry in Canada.

“Payments modernization and Open Banking are both important policy areas where Canada has traditionally lagged behind. There is now significant movement in both, and Fintechs Canada has played a key role,” he said.

“I look forward to working with our new board to continue these efforts and make Canada more friendly towards financial technology.”

The not-for-profit association, whose membership includes Canadian fintechs, financial institutions, technology companies powering Canada’s credit union sector, and global fintech companies, said it is committed to developing a “forward-looking” fintech policy agenda with the federal election year approaching.

Alex Vronces, executive director of Fintechs Canada, added: “The appointment of our new board members marks a significant milestone for Fintechs Canada.

“Their expertise and leadership will be invaluable as we navigate the evolving landscape of financial technology and work towards our goal of making Canada a global leader in fintech.”

Earlier this year, Fintechs Canada put forward a number of proposals for what a government-led entity should do to oversee Open Banking in a pre-Budget submission to the federal government.

Last year, the association launched a campaign to “demand that the government upgrade Canada’s financial system” by implementing Open Banking.

Further reading: Canada’s Open Banking ecosystem reacts to Budget 2024