Toronto-based lender Fig Financial says its personal loan service is now open to all Canadians. “We are providing a true alternative to banks for every Canadian who needs better lending options. And we are doing what the banks won’t: making this experience entirely online,” Francois Cote, CEO, Fig Financial, said in a news release Tuesday (July 9). “If you need to cover unexpected bills and expenses, make home improvements, or pay off your debt faster — whether it’s 3pm or 3am — Fig is available to you.”. According to the release, Fig has helped provide upwards of Can$135 million in funding to more than 9,000 people via various partnerships. Now, the company’s service is accessible directly to consumers

As regulators draw a bead on neobanks, traditional financial institutions are acting more like neobanks. Open banking looks set to transform financial services in the United States, and the approach, in contrast to what has been seen in Europe, is market-driven rather than government-driven. A spate of announcements has served to highlight digital innovations that are changing the ways accounts can be opened and bundled with other offerings that go beyond direct deposit. In other words, the age-old practice of walking into branches to get onboarded into a bank’s client base or take advantage of new services added on to new accounts is becoming increasingly reliant on digital workflows

The digital transformation of banking continues to reshape how financial institutions (FIs) are meeting the evolving expectations of consumers. And central to this evolution are partnerships, which play a pivotal role in enhancing customer experiences and streamlining financial processes.A recent collaboration between Bankjoy, a provider of digital banking solutions for banks and credit unions across the U.S., and Pinwheel, a FinTech company specializing in digital deposit switching (DDS), exemplifies this trend.The partnership represents a significant step towards revolutionizing the process of setting up direct deposits, a process traditionally known for its paperwork-heavy nature and time-consuming procedures. Pinwheel’s digital deposit switching solution, Pinwheel Prime, now offers a seamless platform for users to manage their direct deposits efficiently, enabling them to switch, track, and manage their income streams effortlessly.At the heart of this collaboration lies the recognition of the growing demand for frictionless banking experiences. As consumers increasingly embrace digital channels for their financial transactions, FIs are under pressure to innovate and offer solutions that meet the expectations of today’s tech-savvy customers.“Banks are starting to realize the speed at which technology has changed the world,” James Butland, vice president of payments and U.K. managing director at Mangopay, recently told PYMNTS for the series “What’s Next in Payments: What is a Bank? The Changing Landscape of Banking and Financial Services.”“The challenge that a traditional bank has, is that they sit on 150, 200 years of legacy infrastructure and probably 60 years of legacy technology. So, banks have found it difficult to innovate quickly,” Butland explained.Consequently, this challenge has spurred a broader trend within the digital banking landscape — the convergence of technology and financial services to deliver enhanced value propositions