Five Moncton Companies in the Global Fintech Industry
Moncton’s tech sector has grown large enough that it’s starting to see specialities emerge.
Last week, we focused on the emergence an HR tech cluster. This week it’s “fintech” – a natural extension of the strong financial services sector in the province’s largest city.
RELATED: Six Moncton Tech Companies Making Waves in HR
“Moncton has always been pretty focused on anything regarding finance. If you look at the number of financial advisors, when you look at a number of real estate developers, mortgage brokers,” says Dave Gallant, managing director of innovation services at Venn Innovation.
“That’s one thing I always said about Moncton is it’s very heavy on the real estate side, so a large portion of Greater Moncton has either income properties, they’re very focused on investing and plans in general.”
Gallant says this environment has led to entrepreneurs and businesses focused on financial-related technology to establish themselves in the city. This is a sector called “fintech.”
“It doesn’t surprise me at all to see fintech companies come out of that because they’re already in that headspace. I also think that especially property tech and real estate, people are doing it on a regular basis and it’s one of those areas that hasn’t really been disrupted in that sense,” says Gallant
“I think it’s just one of those things that finally people who are doing all the activities regarding investing or real estate or anything to do with finance finally seeing that, ‘oh, we’re going in this direction, we got to change it up. We have to come up with some new stuff.’ ”
Here are some of the fintech companies in Moncton looking to shake things up:
Onvisor
Onvisor wants to change the way people seek and obtain financial advice. They want to change the game by offering everybody access to the advice and strategies usually reserved for what the company calls “the wealthy.” Unlike traditional financial advisors, Onvisor doesn’t work for any financial institution nor do they work for commissions. Instead, they offer certified, independent financial planners that will provide customers solid advice in a comfortable and convenient setting.
Dream Payments
Dream Payments provides businesses with mobile point-of-sale solutions through its secure payments cloud and device- management platform. Dream is the world’s only mobile platform that enables Interac® Debit and Chip and PIN credit card payment terminals to be sold off-the-shelf. The company’s technology is also used by financial institutions and acquirers including Chase Paymentech to deliver user-friendly mobile payment solutions to their business customers.
Though Toronto-based, DreamPayments has made a big footprint in Moncton’s tech scene since it opened its Centre of Excellence there in July. Last month the company announced it would be hiring up to 125 more people over the next four years.
Quber
Quber helps you save money for what’s important to you, whether it be a vacation or a new gadget you’re dying to have. Their secure platform helps users take control of their spend and save money. Users simply choose what they want to save for, and Quber takes care of making sure they reach their goals.
“Quber helps people be more mindful about their spending and helps them saving for things that they want,” said Quber co-founder Jen Leger in an interview with Entrevestor back in March. “We’ve taken the old model of the saving jars people used to put change into to save for something they want, and we’ve digitized it.”
The Quber app has yet to roll out to the public, but those interested can subscribe on their website for updates.
BankRepoDeals
Many people know that a good way to score a deal on real estate (that often needs a little TLC) is through bank repossession sales. But finding a single place to find all the best repo deals is non-existent. BankRepoDeals is an online platform for the public, whether they be house-flippers, investors, or first-time homeowners, to find bank repo listings.
“What we’re aiming for is either first-time home buyers, investors, people looking to give a lot of value to buildings that are in need of some attention or some repairs. We’re aiming for people who have a bit more of an investor mindset in the real estate market,” BankRepoDeals cofounder Felix Grenier told Huddle. “We want to centralize all the information about foreclosures from banks coming from other platforms. We’re also working on systems to get the information upcoming foreclosures.”
Grenier says the company expects to launch their beta platform this December.
Credit Card Genius
Choosing a credit card can be pretty scary and intimidating. With so many options and both companies and financial institutions pushing their options, it can be hard to find the card that’s right for you. Credit Card Genius wants to help people navigate that.
Credit Card Genius is a free website that allows anyone to easily compare Canadian credit cards based on fees, perks, interest rate and various rewards. The website uses a simple interface with three sliders that allow users to indicate what credit card features are important to them. The website then shows what cards meet their criteria, along with information such a monthly fees, sign up bonuses and net annual rewards.
“It’s an advance credit card comparison tool that helps consumers choose their credits cards smarter and faster,” said co-founder Stephen Weyman, in a previous interview with Huddle. “We put a big emphasis on making simple and easy to use for people and we’ve done that with is we have a three-slider system that gets to the heart of what matters to people when it comes to their credit cards.”