Generational shift brings competition to Canada’s banks Dec 21st

Canadians who watched the World Series this year might have caught a second high-stakes clash going on between plays. RBC, the country’s most valuable bank, ran ads that had actor Will Arnett touting trust and real people over fads, while scrappy EQ Bank and crypto giant Coinbase Inc. had spots pushing the need for a financial refresh, including one with a dazed younger customer asking a rigid bank teller “what’s a ‘fee’ fee?”

The ads come as Canadian banking is going through generational shifts, including a wave of smaller players being bought up, the emergence of tech-based players as potential threats to the establishment, and a federal government that has made both big promises and moves to create more competition.

While it’s not clear how it will all play out, change is clearly underway in Canadian banking.

“This is dramatically different from what we’ve seen before,” said Adriana Vega, executive director of Fintechs Canada. Vega welcomed the fact that not only had the government made strong overtures in the fall budget to bolster competition, but it soon after started delivering with an implementation bill that included key details on moving open banking forward…