Fintechs Canada made a submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (FINA) in advance of the 2023 federal budget. Fintechs Canada is committed to accelerating progress on Canada’s financial services competition and innovation agenda, without compromising the stability and security of the sector.
In its submission, Fintechs Canada made the following recommendations.
Recommendation 1: That the government lower the cost of doing business for Canadians by introducing new measures that incentivize competition and innovation in the financial markets.
- Amend the Canadian Payments Act to make federally regulated payment service providers eligible for membership in Payments Canada and to access Payment Canada’s future real-time retail payment system.
- After implementing the first phase of the Open Banking Advisory Committee’s Report, make sure that Canada’s open banking system also covers consumer and business-directed payments.
- Commit to doing a comprehensive review of payment system governance to ensure the needs of consumers and businesses are being met.
Recommendation 2: That the government protect the integrity of Canada’s financial system by continuing to make progress on payments modernization and open banking.
- Once Canada’s Open Banking Lead has completed the first phase of their work, establish a formal governance entity to oversee the open banking system, help to resolve disputes between participants, and ensure Canadians have recourse in the event things go wrong
- Ensure that Payments Canada launches Canada’s new real-time payments system with features that provide Canadians with trust in the financial system, such as recourse for consumers and businesses in the event things go wrong
- Table a plan to update Canada’s financial sector legislative framework to effectively oversee and manage the risks of cryptocurrency and stablecoins, while also supporting the economic opportunities they present
With a financial sector whose fragility was exposed by the recent Rogers outage, and a cost of living that is spiraling out of control, Fintechs Canada believes that the modernization of financial services policy is a crucial part of any vision to a more inclusive, affordable, resilient, and dynamic Canada.
