Having lived in more than a dozen countries for work, Nigerian-born Kingsley Madu was familiar with the process of starting over in a new country, but nothing prepared him for what he had to deal with when he immigrated to Canada in 2019.
“It was the toughest experience ever,” Madu told CBC News.
From the moment Madu and his family landed at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, he was faced with financial struggles. While he had money, he didn’t have any credit.
Now, the Kitchener, Ont., resident is helping others by creating the first BIPOC-focused digital banking app in Canada for newcomers with no Canadian credit history. It will help them rent cars, hotel rooms, homes and apartments while building credit.
“We come from regions of the world where there isn’t credit history, but the banking system [in Canada] is asking to see that, and so that is the barrier that does not allow us to gain access to the banking system, to phones, to everything.”
Difficult start
When their plane landed in Canada, Madu said, he couldn’t even book an Uber to drive his family and their luggage to a hotel because he didn’t have a Canadian credit card. Madu ended up paying cash for a limousine.
After arriving at the hotel, he was told that without a credit card, he would have to pay for three nights in advance in order to book a room for one night.
It was the same reason Madu was unable to rent a car and instead had to “walk kilometres to the house where I was hoping to rent.”
When Madu got to the home he was interested in renting, the landlord told him he needed to have at least six months worth of credit history.
“At this point, I’m super frustrated,” he recalled.
Not knowing where to acquire a credit history, Madu went to the bank, only to be told he would need a home address in order to open a bank account.
App gains momentum
The shock of that first experience in his new country is what led Madu to start working on Expedier, although getting started on the digital banking app was “tough to say the least.”
A pivotal turning point came when Madu secured a deal with the Digital Commerce Bank in Calgary.
“That made it a whole lot easier for us to leverage the existing infrastructure and build out,” Madu explained.
As the app gained momentum, Madu brokered an agreement with Equifax that is in its final stages. The partnership will allow Expedier users to establish and build credit, access specialized credit and debit cards and transfer money from other countries into their Expedier accounts.
There are other similar apps, like Mogo, that are available to newcomers to help them manage their finances, but the Equifax deal means Expedier will differ in a major way: by allowing payments like rent and debit card purchases to count toward a person’s credit history, a feature currently being worked out through the federal government by way of a formal banking licence.
“The rent is a horrible loss for us,” said Madu. “It’s a double-edged sword loss. We’re losing money, cash. We’re not building equity. We’re not building credit at the same time.”
Typically rent payments aren’t automatically reported to credit bureaus. You can however sign up for a rent reporting program, like Front Lobby which is offered through the Landlord Credit Bureau, that requires both the landlord and tenant to be involved in the process.
The app’s success story continued with Expedier being selected to participate in the Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders program earlier this year. It also became a part of the Black ecosystem of Liftoff WR, a Waterloo tech incubator run by the Caribbean Canadian Association of Waterloo Region.
LISTEN | Hear the full interview with Expedier creator Kingsley Madu:
The Morning Edition – K-W7:32A new digital bank app is helping remove financial barriers immigrants face when they come to Canada
Moving to a new country is a big undertaking and establishing yourself as a newcomer comes with a variety of barriers. Especially when you have no credit history in a country that relies on credit for everything from renting a house, a car, even a hotel room. That was Kingsley Madu’s experience when he came to Canada four years ago.
Addressing a gap in the system
Madu’s experience immigrating to Canada is a familiar one, said Ana Luz Martinez, settlement program manager at the Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre.
“What I hear when somebody wants to rent a place, one of the issues that they are dealing with is the credit score. I mean, they don’t have any credit history here.”
However, Martinez said, there has been a shift in attitude from some banks recently.
“The banks I have seen are more open now to open a bank account for a newcomer. They are actually providing some good offers,” he said, adding that’s likely because “they want to have customers.”
Ana Luz Martinez, settlement programs manager at the KW Multicultural Centre, says she’s heard from newcomers trying to rent a home or apartment that it’s hard to do without a credit history. (kwmulticultural.ca)
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) told CBC News it collaborates with both government and non-government partners in the financial sector to advance newcomers’ financial literacy skills.
A statement from an IRCC spokesperson said the organization recognizes there are some gaps that need to be addressed.
“As part of its regulatory role, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada [FCAC] issued a supervisory bulletin that sets out its expectations on how banks can actively support vulnerable consumers, including newcomers, who want to open an account but face barriers in providing standard identification documents, such as utility bills, a driver’s licence or passport,” the statement said.
The bulletin recognizes that, in certain situations, consumers — including newcomers to Canada — might not have access to the most commonly accepted forms of identification.
It details the FCAC’s expectations for banks regarding the use of non-standard ID by consumers who are facing barriers when accessing banking services.
‘Phenomenal’ feedback
Madu said his app makes it easier for immigrants to ease into the financial landscape and he hopes it helps people start their lives in Canada.
So far, he said, the app has been downloaded more than 10,000 times.
“The feedback has been phenomenal. A lot of people are reaching out saying, ‘Hey, what you’ve built is revolutionary,'” he said.
“Users reach out to us to say, ‘I never knew it would be this tough, but because of Ex [Expedier], it’s a whole lot easier for me. I’m able to pay tuition, I’m able to pay rentals, I’m able to live my life.’ And that’s the kind of feedback that we’re looking for, to validate what we’ve built and to ensure that this system keeps working.”
For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.
OTTAWA – Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told a federal inquiry today that parliamentarians who were targeted by Chinese hackers could have taken immediate protective steps if they had been informed sooner.
It emerged earlier this year that in 2021 some MPs and senators faced cyberattacks from the hackers because of their involvement with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which pushes for accountability from Beijing.
In 2022, U.S. authorities apparently informed the Canadian government of the attacks, and it in turn advised parliamentary IT officials — but not individual MPs.
Genuis, a Canadian co-chair of the inter-parliamentary alliance, told a federal commission of inquiry on foreign interference today that it remains mysterious to him why he wasn’t informed about the attacks sooner.
Liberal MP John McKay, also a Canadian co-chair of the alliance, said there should be a clear protocol for advising parliamentarians of cyberthreats.
Several weeks of public inquiry hearings will focus on the capacity of federal agencies to detect, deter and counter foreign meddling.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
TORONTO – After being drafted in the third round (61st overall) of the 2023 MLS SuperDraft, forward Charlie Sharp decided to put his dream of playing professional football on hold.
He spent a couple of weeks training with Toronto FC that summer and then returned for a fifth year at Western Michigan University.
“It was a really tough decision for me,” Sharp recalled. “Because I knew that going back to school, nothing was guaranteed. I could get injured or not perform well, but it seemed to really work out for me.”
Sharp scored 19 goals and added eight assists as a senior, leading the Broncos to a 17-2-3 record and a third-round appearance in the NCAA tournament where they eventually lost to national runner-up Notre Dame on penalty kicks. Sharp, who scored or assisted in nine of his last 10 matches, ranked first in the NCAA with 0.95 goals per game and 2.30 points per game and was tied for second with seven game-winning goals.
The 23-year-old Sharp, whose rights were retained by Toronto, spent time with the TFC first team in this year’s pre-season and signed with Toronto FC II in February. On Tuesday, he joined TFC 2 teammate Nate Edwards, a wingback from Brampton, Ont., in signing a first-team contract.
“We are happy to officially elevate Charlie at this time,” Toronto GM Jason Hernandez said in a statement Tuesday. “His strong mentality and mature playing style will be a welcomed addition to our young player group in the first team.”
Both players signed contracts that run through 2025 with club options for 2026 and 2027.
The deals were completed in advance of Friday’s MLS roster freeze but took their time working their way through the league office.
“A bit of unorthodox path that I chose,” said Sharp. “But I think you’re seeing it more now with players that get drafted.”
“I’m super-happy,” he added. “I think I made the right decision.”
As a senior, Sharp was one of three finalists for the 2023 MAC Hermann Trophy, which honours the top NCAA soccer player. The award eventually went to Clemson senior forward Ousmane Sylla.
The six-foot-five 185-pounder from Brighton, Mich., finished his collegiate career with 42 goals 22 assists, and 106 points in 89 games. He ranks first in career goals and games and tied for fourth in assists for Western Michigan.
In returning to Kalamazoo for a fifth year, Sharp also succeeded off the pitch by completing his degree in computer information systems.
Despite some niggling injuries, Sharp has five goals and two assists in 16 appearances with TFC 2 this season. He made his first-team debut off the bench May 15 against Nashville.
“I had a lot of friends and family watching,” he said.
“It’s been a journey,” Sharp added. “I’ve been thankful for every step of the way.,”
The 21-year-old Edwards has one goal and two assists in 23 games with TFC’s MLS Next Pro team.
“He has been a top performer with TFC II this season and we look forward to his continued growth within our environment,” said Hernandez
Edwards, who also joined TFC 2 in February, made his first-team debut May 21 in Canadian Championship play against Ligue1 Quebec champion CS Saint-Laurent.
The five-foot-eight 167-pounder split his college career between Syracuse University and Purdue University Fort Wayne. As a senior in 2023, he had one goal and four assists for Syracuse and was named to the 2023 All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Academic Team and College Sport Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team.
At Purdue University Fort Wayne, he had two goals and an assist in 40 appearances across three seasons (2020-2022) with the Mastodons.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
CALGARY – A Calgary man who pleaded guilty to sharing Islamic State recruitment videos and propaganda on TikTok will spend the next six years behind bars.
Zakarya Rida Hussein was sentenced during a court appearance on Friday after he pleaded guilty to one of four terrorism-related charges.
Hussein admitted that he owned social media accounts that posted ISIS recruitment videos and propaganda.
He also admitted to sharing a bomb-making video online.
The man was arrested in June 2023 after a joint investigation led by the RCMP and the Calgary Police Service.
Hussein will need to submit DNA results and will be under lifetime ban from owning firearms after he’s released.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
