Accelerating financial access in Canada

Plaid has two major announcements regarding our commitment to expanding digital finance’s positive impact on Canadian consumers and businesses. Since entering the market in 2018 – our first international market – we’ve worked with fintech companies, banks, credit unions, regulators, and industry experts to help improve financial access to the more than 37 million Canadians.

Team members across Plaid have been working to meet the digital financial needs of Canadians for years. This includes building customer relationships with partners like Wave, Drop, Lightspeed and Clearco, among others. Accordingly, we’ve also been growing our employee presence within the country to support our overall expansion. 

We are happy to announce that Plaid has officially opened our first office in Canada. 

Plaid’s office is in Toronto, one of Canada’s four top 20 global fintech hubs along with Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver. Our Canadian team supports critical functions for Plaid, including financial institution partnerships, policy, sales and account management, software engineering, and product management, among others. We can’t wait for existing and new customers, financial institution partners, and friends to visit our space just a stone’s throw from Toronto’s Financial District. 

Our financial institution partnerships – some of which are both customers and data providers – play a vital role in driving consumer access to the digital financial solutions that will enable people to lead healthier financial lives. We work closely with financial institutions to enable all consumers to benefit from digital finance. These partnerships are particularly important in Canada, where only a handful of banks have ~90% of the market share. 

 In addition to our Canada office news, Plaid is pleased to announce a data access agreement with RBC, the largest bank in Canada.

The agreement will – for the first time – bring about secure, API-based financial access for more than 14 million RBC digital clients, who will have the ability to securely connect to the 6,000+ apps and services on Plaid’s data network. This includes 9 of the top 10 most downloaded fintech apps via Androids and the Apple App store.  

Plaid’s agreement with RBC, which is the 5th largest bank in North America and the 8th globally by market capitalization, adds exciting momentum to our efforts to empower all consumers with secure access and control over their own financial information so people can lead healthier financial lives. It also demonstrates how fintech-financial institution partnerships can accelerate the connectivity and interoperability that consumers want and deserve. 

Going forward, we’re excited to work with all stakeholders to ensure a financial access and connectivity approach that best serves Canadian consumers. Plaid’s strengthening Canada presence and our data access agreement with RBC will drive even more collaboration with institutions, customers, and the broader industry. 

Plaid will continue to be at the forefront of powering digital financial services. We’re excited for what is to come as we continue to support consumers in Canada and beyond as we help unlock financial freedom for all. 

We’ll continue to share updates on Plaid’s progress and presence in Canada.  If you’d like to learn more about our Global Products contact our local team (be sure to select “Canada” in the country drop down) or stay informed through the Plaid Blog.

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