This week’s stories reflect how fintech continues to evolve across different parts of the financial system.
Payment access is expanding as Neo Financial joins Interac’s network. A new company is being formed to scale merchant payments and loyalty services in the Nordics. Banks are integrating investing directly into their platforms through partnerships. Funding in Canada shows stronger investor confidence and larger deal sizes. And insurers are adopting AI-driven tools to improve cyber risk underwriting.
The momentum is spread across payments, wealth, capital, and risk infrastructure.
1) Neo Financial Gains Direct Access to Interac Payment Rails
Neo Financial has joined the Interac e-Transfer network as an official participant, becoming one of the first Canadian fintechs to gain direct access to the country’s core payment rails.
The designation allows Neo to build payment features directly on top of Interac’s infrastructure without relying on intermediary banking partners. Previously, Neo customers could use e-Transfers through its Everyday account, but the company had to depend on third parties to access the system.
Interac expanded eligibility in September 2025 to include payment service providers registered under the Retail Payment Activities Act and as Money Services Businesses with FINTRAC. This change enabled fintech companies that meet technical and compliance requirements to connect directly to the network.
With direct access, Neo gains greater control over how it develops payment functionality, as it continues to offer products including cash accounts, credit cards, and mortgages to its growing customer base.
2) Mimir and PayEx Form Everspring to Scale Payments and Loyalty Platform
Investment firm Mimir has acquired a platform from Swedbank-owned PayEx to launch a new fintech company, Everspring, aimed at expanding digital payments and loyalty solutions across the Nordics.
The platform, previously operated within PayEx, provides merchants with digital services including loyalty programmes, gift cards, value codes, technical support, and payment and financing solutions tailored to specific industries.
Under the new structure, PayEx will retain a significant minority stake while Mimir takes majority ownership. The new entity will operate independently, with plans to accelerate growth, expand into new verticals, and scale beyond its current footprint.
Nelson Walden, previously at Visa, has been appointed CEO of Everspring as the company begins its expansion strategy.
3) Freedom Bank Partners With InvestiFi to Embed Digital Investing Into Banking Platform
Freedom Bank has partnered with InvestiFi to integrate digital investing capabilities directly into its online banking platform, allowing clients to invest from their checking accounts within the bank’s existing environment.
Through the integration, customers will be able to access a range of investment options including stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies, as well as create guided investing portfolios and use embedded financial education tools.
The collaboration is designed to bring investing into the core banking experience, enabling clients to manage and grow their funds without relying on third-party platforms, while expanding the bank’s digital capabilities to meet evolving customer needs.
4) Canadian Fintech Funding Rises 52% Year Over Year in Q4 2025
Canadian fintech funding reached $1.6 billion across 18 deals in Q4 2025, marking a 52% increase compared to the same period in 2024 and the strongest performance across the three quarters of available data.
While deal volume remained steady year over year, total funding rose significantly from $1.1 billion in Q4 2024. Compared to Q3 2025, where 23 deals generated $219.3 million, Q4 saw a sharp increase in capital despite fewer transactions.
Average deal size also increased to $89.1 million, up from approximately $58.6 million in Q4 2024 and $9.5 million in Q3 2025, indicating a shift toward larger, more concentrated investments.
One of the notable deals during the quarter was Micruity’s $20 million Series A round, focused on modernizing data infrastructure for retirement income solutions.
5) Cytora and VulnCheck Partner to Enhance AI-Driven Cyber Underwriting
Cytora has partnered with VulnCheck to integrate real-time vulnerability intelligence into its digital risk processing platform, aiming to improve how insurers assess cyber risk at the point of underwriting.
The integration allows insurers to enrich submissions with dynamic data on software vulnerabilities and exploit exposure, moving beyond static forms to gain a clearer and more current view of an applicant’s risk profile.
By combining Cytora’s generative AI-powered risk processing with VulnCheck’s exploit intelligence, the partnership is designed to support more accurate pricing and underwriting decisions while reducing delays in the assessment process.
The collaboration forms part of Cytora’s broader effort to build a comprehensive data ecosystem for insurance workflows, as firms adopt more automated and data-driven approaches to managing cyber risk.
