Wealthsimple appears to be gearing up for its previously hinted-at expansion into new financial services, with the registration of three new business names.
BetaKit has confirmed that Wealthsimple has registered three new businesses within the past seven months. Wealthsimple Digital Assets, issued in October, and Wealthsimple Payments, issued in August, were first reported by financial newsletter OPM Wars and a third registration was filed in New Brunswick under the name Wealthsimple Cash in June, as first reported by The Globe and Mail.
Wealthsimple planned to divide its offerings into three pillars: saving and investing, responsible credit, and smart insurance.
The revelation of the new potential businesses comes two weeks after Wealthsimple spun out its advisory service into a separate company.
CEO Mike Katchen has been clear about his intentions to build Wealthsimple into a full-stack financial service, expressing the sentiment to BetaKit in May following Wealthsimple’s $100 million raise. It was an idea he echoed in September at the Elevate Money stage, where he noted Wealtshsimple would need to achieve full-stack status in order to “own the client relationship.”
Katchen stated that Wealthsimple planned to divide its offerings into three pillars: saving and investing, responsible credit, and smart insurance. The CEO added that those three offerings could lead to a spending stream or a push into retail banking. He also added that Wealthsimple was “absolutely open to partnerships” to deliver on its product roadmap.
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Wealthsimple has not disclosed what services would be offered under these new businesses. When speaking with the Globe, Katchen did confirm that the company has plans to open a chequing account for customers, but did not reveal timing or details of the offering.
According to OPM Wars, Wealthsimple Payments has secured a Money Service Business licence, which allows consumer FinTech companies to operate and access the electronic funds transfer network. Wealthsimple Payments is now licenced for money transfers and foreign exchange. Wealthsimple Digital Assets also received a Money Service Business licence.
Wealthsimple has been active in consumer-facing products and partnerships over the last year. The startup ventured into the tax space by partnering with TurboTax and H&R Block, and by acquiring the web-based tax preparation app, SimpleTax in September. Other partnerships included those with Willful, a platform for will creation, as well as wealth management firm, Grayhawk Investment Strategies.
