Financial applications

From: Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

What's a financial application

Financial applications, also called fintech apps or fintechs, can help you manage your finances online. These apps offer personalized products and services such as product comparison tools and budgetary tools. They may also allow you to view all your financial products in one place.

Fintech apps offer many benefits such as:

increasing the efficiency and speed of approval for online loans, insurance, etc.
improving the accessibility and convenience of transactions by using smartphones and tablets to manage your finances
giving you access to financial products and services at a lower cost, for example lower insurance premiums

You may use these apps on your computer as well.

Who offers financial applications

Financial institutions or third-party providers create, manage and offer fintech apps. Typically, third-party apps offer additional financial products or services.

These additional services are separate from the ones offered by your own financial institution and could include:

managing your bills
keeping track of your budget
exchanging currencies
investing in the stock market
buying or selling crypto assets

How financial applications work

To use a fintech app, you usually have to provide information about yourself or your finances.

This may include your:

debit or credit card numbers
username, personal identification number (PIN) or passwords you use to access your accounts online
personal information

It’s your responsibility to keep your banking and credit card information safe and confidential. This will protect your personal information in the event of fraud or a data breach.

Providing your banking or credit card information to a fintech app may break your financial institution’s account or online banking agreement. This means your financial institution may hold you responsible in the event of unauthorized transactions.

Protect yourself when using financial applications

Before you use a fintech app, make sure you understand how your personal and financial information may be used. If you're unsure if you should provide your personal banking information, ask your financial institution. If you still have doubts, don’t share your information.

Make sure you understand the potential consequences of using a fintech app. Those consequences could include data breaches on your username and password, fraud and more. Read the fintech app’s privacy and security policies.

It’s your responsibility to:

look for any purchases, withdrawals or transfers that you didn’t make
check your financial institution’s policy to find out about your fraud protections
contact your financial institution if you notice anything suspicious on your bank account or credit card statement

If you become a victim of fraud, contact the financial institution responsible for your accounts. Also notify Canada’s two credit reporting agencies, TransUnion and Equifax, to place a fraud alert on your account.

Find out how to place a fraud alert on your account with TransUnion.

Find out how to place a fraud alert on your account with Equifax.

Page details

Date modified:: 2023-06-30

Language selection

Search

Financial applications

Page details