A spotlight on payments innovation with Visa Canada

Visa Canada is among the many organizations that Payments Canada connects with to expand our knowledge base on payment innovations.

Chris Ferron, Vice President, Enablers, Merchants and Fintechs at Visa, moderated a panel at The 2025 Payments Canada SUMMIT entitled How to build credit products for Canadian fintechs. In this interview, Chris expands on the payment innovations that fintechs are bringing to the Canadian market.

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With the growth of fintechs offering digital financial products and services, what will these organizations bring to the Canadian payment ecosystem?
Fintechs are and will continue to set the pace of innovation. We’re seeing a lot of fintechs come to the table with products and solutions to payment processes and experiences that have historically been friction-filled or difficult to access.

Take the company, Float, for example. They launched corporate cards and spend management platforms to serve small business customers. A segment that has historically felt underserved by traditional institutions. Their solution provides owners with more flexibility, transparency, and control over spending with category restrictions, temporary spending limits and one-time use cards. Empowering their clients to use the products in the way that best serves their needs and tailored to where they are in their business journey.

A lot of what fintechs are creating and doing can be complementary to many products currently on the market. With more collaboration, I see a plethora of opportunities for innovation.

What significant obstacles will fintechs primarily face when trying to enter and gain market share in the Canadian market?
Canadians are ready and eager to embrace innovative and new solutions, and fintechs are incredibly well-positioned to deliver on their promises and win customers.

There is no question that winning customers is hard work, and that payments are a complicated business. We’re starting to see governments build the foundation for fintechs to succeed. Open banking, for example, will be a major unlock for innovation and growth.

At Visa, we’re open and ready to collaborate. For those who choose to work with us, they will have access to the best of payment innovations and products in the world, and they can leverage the trust built into the Visa brand and network.

In what ways do you foresee fintechs in Canada collaborating with traditional financial institutions to enhance the overall payment experience for consumers?
Fintechs are beneficial to traditional financial institutions (FIs) as they offer features that can enhance existing processes and improve the customer experience.

By partnering with fintechs, traditional FIs can leverage advanced payment technology without the high cost of creating these solutions in-house. These partnerships also offer opportunities for data analysis that can enhance customer understanding and expedite the launch of new digital solutions.

The relationship between FIs and fintechs is symbiotic. With the support of FIs, fintechs can navigate the regulatory landscape and access existing, market-ready infrastructure. It would be great to see these partnerships occur more often.

What payment offerings in other markets do you believe will make their way to Canada in the next five to 10 years?
Payments have transformed more in the past five years than in the previous fifty — and with AI-driven commerce, that pace is accelerating. In just the last five months, we've seen shifts in how people pay, get paid, and shop globally, with this change continuing to gain momentum.

Earlier this year, we launched Visa Intelligent Commerce to establish a trusted AI-driven shopping ecosystem — empowering AI agents to deliver personalized, secure experiences at scale.

Trust will be the defining factor as AI-powered commerce takes hold. We're committed to closing the trust gap for both buyers and sellers, ensuring every transaction is secure, seamless, and simple, no matter where in the world it happens.

AI is borderless, and its influence on commerce will only grow. As buyers and sellers increasingly engage with AI, we're here to help our clients and partners navigate this evolving space and prepare for what’s next.

How is Visa intending to serve the growth in fintechs and their digital financial offerings?
We work with fintechs in strategic and effective ways, building trust in the ecosystem as a reliable partner. Through Visa’s Fintech Fast Track program, companies can launch new payment solutions quickly, using the reach, capabilities and security of VisaNet, our global payment network.

We are also excited about our relationship with Fintech Cadence, an education and networking hub for Canada’s fintech startups. Through this collaboration, we get to connect with early-stage startups, hear about the problems they are working to solve in payments, and support their work. I’m eager to see the new ideas that we can help nurture and bring to life through this collaboration.