New SME banking player Pillar set to launch in Canada

Pillar, a new fintech offering business accounts designed to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), is gearing up for launch in Canada.

Pillar offers business accounts for SMEs

Pillar touts itself as an all-in-one financial platform for business owners and the self-employed and claims it is “reimagining banking for small businesses”.

The fintech says it has no physical branches, no hidden fees and no credit checks.

Pillar’s business account is designed to make it easy for small business owners to stay on top of their expenses and improve their business’ overall financial management. It claims to save business owners two days worth of bookkeeping and administration time a month.

Every Pillar business account comes with both virtual and physical cards with transaction alerts and digital controls to protect against fraud.

Other functionality includes bank-to-bank transfers for pay-ins and payouts and integrated deposits and withdrawals.

Pillar says it is not a bank and is working with a licensed Canadian bank to provide deposit accounts and payments to its customers.

“We are a technology company founded by experienced entrepreneurs and innovators,” the company writes on its website. “We are built using established Canadian banking and payment partners to ensure the security and privacy of all your account data.”

Pillar was founded in May last year by Elena Litani, formerly of KOHO; Michael Mire, formerly of InvoiceSherpa; and Vincent Deschenes, formerly of Moka Financial Technologies. The company is based in Montreal, Quebec.

The neobank has received support from two Canadian fintech-focused venture capital firms: Luge Capital and Diagram. Its waiting list is now open for signups.