Friday News Round Up: November 10, 2017
Here are some stories that caught our eye this week:
Loblaw to merge Shoppers Optimum and PC Plus loyalty programs
Loblaw announced this week that it will be creating a new, unified loyalty program replacing Optimum and PC plus points. The new program, which will be called PC Optimum, will start Feb. 1, 2018.
According to The Globe and Mail, this was a long-anticipated move, coming more than three years after Loblaw acquired Shoppers Drug Mart. By merging Shoppers Optimum and PC Plus, Loblaw will gain access to a more efficient and unified data collection system, allowing it to better target its customers.
Customers can keep acquiring points until Feb. 1, 2018, when their Optimum and PC Plus points move to the new program at equal value.
Ratehub.ca named one of Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 Companies
On Thursday, Ratehub.ca received a Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program award in recognition of its rapid revenue growth, bold innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit. Ratehub.ca ranked 32nd with 768.7 per cent in revenue growth from 2013 to 2016.
The Fast 50 program, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, honours 50 Canadian tech companies with the highest revenue-growth percentage over the past four years. Winners are made up of public and private companies in the tech sector that have transformed the industry.
The full list of companies is available here.This year, Diply topped the list as Canada’s fastest growing technology company.
Now tweeting in 280 characters
This week, Twitter unveiled a drastic change to its platform – it is now allowing users to expand their tweets from 140 characters to 280. Users in all supported languages, including English, will now be able to express more of their thoughts without running out of space for their tweets. The move was initially announced in September 2017 and rolled out to a select group of users as part of a trial.
Wanted: Your feedback on Canada’s financial services sector
The Competition Bureau published a report on Canada’s emerging financial services sector this week, and is now asking members of the Canadian fintech industry to offer their feedback and criticism.
The Competition Bureau, a federal agency, created the report as a way of summarizing the current state of the Canadian fintech industry. It explores the impact of fintech innovation on competition in the financial services industry, as well as barriers to entry, expansion, and adoption of fintech in Canada. In addition, the report also looks at how fintech infrastructure affects Canadians’ use of retail payments, crowdfunding, investment, and lending.
The Competition Bureau has requested feedback on the draft of its report from now until Nov. 20, 2017.
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