Fintech landscape in Canada and across the world has seen major growth and investment in the past couple of years. According to KPMG’s Pulse of Fintech Report 2024 a record US$9.5B was invested across 121 deals in 2024, despite a drop in deal volume in the last six months of the last year. Igniting excitement in the financial sector, this milestone showcases the demand for cutting-edge financial technologies. However, as the landscape gets more competitive, companies need to focus on their innovation – whether through their technology, operations, or business model – to ensure sustainable growth. Since its founding in London in 2009, global venture Paystone has consistently placed innovation at the core of its software, growth model, and value proposition.
Brainchild of Co-Founders, Tarique Al-Ansari and Abdullah Saab, one of Canada’s top growing companies according to The Globe and Mail, Paystone (formerly known as Zomaron) is a B2B all-in-one payment processing platform that helps businesses grow with every transaction. Through an integrated loyalty and rewards program, gift card system, marketing automation tools, and payments solutions, Paystone creates unlimited opportunities for businesses to generate new and repeat customers and successfully build their online reputation to scale. “The idea first came to us when businesses were first starting to adopt electronic payments for in-store and online transactions,” shares Al-Ansari. Years ago, it wasn’t uncommon for stores to maintain multiple credit card processing machines each specific to a different payment method. For businesses, this meant various statements coming in on different dates, all to be reconciled at the end of month, which contributed to productivity and time loss. Al-Ansari and his founding team based out of London, Ontario saw an opportunity for a streamlined payment platform, providing next day funding, one bill at the end of the month, and fueling value through superior customer service and value added tools to help merchants grow their business.
Building credibility through value addition
The payment processing landscape is an even level playing field. “From small fintech ventures to big corporations, every player gets the same processing rate from the card networks (ie Visa, Mastercard, and others). So, if you are not adding meaningful value to transactions, then it’s just a race to the bottom,” adds Al-Ansari. Paystone recognized this aspect of their industry early in their journey and have been focused on creating and providing the best value-add to their solutions. From customer service that ensures prompt problem solving with their POS machines to innovating the software itself to include value added services fueling businesses growth, this focus has always kept their customers’ needs at the centre of every business decision. “As the landscape got competitive, the supply became very commoditized. That’s where our vision of turning transactions into interactions took shape,” explains Al-Ansari. Creating differentiation based on customer feedback often means investing more business resources into R&D initiatives and establishing a strong team of in-house software developers. But Paystone had a smarter business model that helped them scale their company globally.
A dual growth strategy
Businesses have often used M&A as a way to scale, increase their market share, and go beyond borders. While this might be one of the oldest strategies in the book, Paystone’s approach offers a unique take. Strategically acquiring software assets that can add value to its payment processing solution, this fintech venture made seven acquisitions across different geographies in a short period starting in 2019, leading to rapid growth. “One of the constant types of feedback that we get from our customers would be to help them grow their business. We realized that the solution lies in integrating payments with marketing automation. This product roadmap drove many of our M&A decisions,” says Al-Ansari. Paystone, a company that had been largely bootstrapped, achieved phenomenal growth in the past six years through a dual strategy. This involved continued revenue from their payment solutions alongside the development of innovative product features acquired via mergers and acquisitions (M&As). The success of this two-pronged approach led to significant investor interest, culminating in a total funding raise of $99 million in 2021. Making it to the prestigious Team True North List, a cohort representing the one per cent of global private Canadian companies with a combined revenue of $5.1B, Paystone is a testament to the thriving tech landscape that exists in the Southwestern Ontario region and throughout Canada.
The recent growth and demand for innovative fintech businesses has got Al-Ansari excited about the potential that lies ahead for other scaling companies coming out of Canada. However, the Co-Founder does see missed opportunities despite resiliency of the financial system. “Canada’s fintech landscape is promising, but slow. The resiliency of our system is key for consumer protection, and we all pride ourselves in that aspect of our financial regulatory system. But it’s important to find a balance – a balance that will allow us to innovate faster, so that we do not miss out on key economic impacts that some high-potential companies can make in our ecosystem,” says Al-Ansari.
As Canada positions itself to unlock the next wave of fintech innovation, ventures like Paystone underscore the importance of marrying vision with execution. For founders navigating Canada’s evolving financial ecosystem, Paystone’s story is both a benchmark and a beacon, reminding us that growth is not just about capital or product, but about creating consistent, real value.
