In a move aimed at strengthening financial crime prevention in Canada’s financing and leasing industry, Paays has announced a strategic partnership with fellow Toronto-based firm Minerva, a leader in regulatory technology.
The collaboration will see Paays integrate Minerva’s anti-money laundering (AML) screening API into its own Paays AML Check solution, enhancing its existing FINTRAC-compliant Know Your Customer (KYC) platform, ID Verifier.
The partnership arrives just days after new federal regulations came into effect, requiring financing and leasing companies to implement stricter compliance programs. Effective April 1, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) now mandates these businesses to carry out ongoing AML checks on both new applicants and existing customers, as well as to report suspicious transactions under expanded guidelines.
“These new regulations are a significant shift, and they mark the government’s commitment to cracking down on money laundering in Canada,” said David Fry, Founder and CEO of Paays. “Our partnership with Minerva not only ensures compliance but also reduces the operational burden for our customers.”
The timing of the partnership is no coincidence. The recent changes follow a years-long federal investigation—sparked by British Columbia’s Cullen Commission—which revealed the alarming scale of money laundering in the country. According to the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, between $45 billion and $113 billion is estimated to be laundered through Canadian institutions each year.
FINTRAC has taken an increasingly aggressive stance, issuing more than $26 million in non-compliance fines to financial institutions since the start of 2023. The agency has made clear that even small firms must meet the same standards of oversight and risk management as major banks.
Jennifer Arnold, Founder and CEO of Minerva, said the partnership will allow financing and leasing companies to proactively screen for potential threats before they enter the system. “Our real-time AML risk assessment capabilities complement Paays’ trusted ID Verifier perfectly,” Arnold said. “Together, we offer a robust defense against bad actors and a streamlined, compliant onboarding experience.”
Paays and Minerva believe their combined solution will help businesses meet new federal requirements with greater confidence and efficiency—using advanced data analytics to power real-time decision making without slowing down the lending process.
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