Atlantic Canada will be well represented at Money2020 in Las Vegas, one of the most significant conferences for the global fintech industry. Eight companies from across the region will attend the conference to meet potential partners, investors, and customers. The firms include Dunbridge Financial, Gray Wolf Analytics, OliverPOS, PayTic, SONA, SnapB2B, The Identity Score, and Troj.ai

As a second-year student at Dalhousie University, I am an intern supporting marketing and communications at Venn Innovation, the not-for-profit supporting innovation-based economic development in New Brunswick. Venn powers Atlantic FinTech, and during my tenure here, I got to work very closely with Alicia Roisman Ismach, the Head of Atlantic FinTech, and other fintech innovators and entrepreneurs in the region.

The relationship between Europe and Atlantic Canada dates back hundreds of years, with many strong linkages of a geopolitical, business and personal nature. As a region, Atlantic Canada has a long, storied history of financial services and innovation. Both the Bank of Nova Scotia and The Royal Bank of Canada started in the region, collectively representing $31.3B CAD / €21.2B EUR and $47.1B CAD / €31.97B EUR in revenues in 2020, respectively.

Recently, I had a discussion with a friend about what I do for Atlantic Fintech and what fintech means. As I started answering, I realized I was trying to package something as versatile and powerful as fintech into a few sentences, while trying not to limit it to a few check boxes.

As we collectively adapt to the new normal post the pandemic, we see surprising outcomes such as increased opportunities for remote investments. Earlier, venture capital (VC) investors in the technology sector would reject companies that were headquartered far from their physical location. Now, there is a surge in the number of investors who are open to engaging with entrepreneurs they have never met before, and to closing fully remote deals. 

The rising cost of fighting cybercrime in financial institutions has revealed a big gap that Atlantic Canadian fintech innovators can fill with their rich financial experience and tech expertise.

As our economy is starting to shift from response to recovery mode post the pandemic, fintech innovators and companies have started leading the charge. Every company, even those that have nothing to do with financial services, now see tremendous potential in the digital economy. Fintech is no longer an industry by itself. It is evolving into the backbone of all other industries, like cybersecurity and cloud computing.