This week’s edition of Finovate Global features the latest fintech news from Canada.
Toronto-based fintech Wealthsimple unveiled a suite of new solutions this week, including an AI-powered assistant. Named Penny, the AI assistant is able to send e-transfers, pay invoices, flag duplicate credit card charges, and help self-directed investors buy and sell stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs)—all within the Wealthsimple platform. Explicit client approval will be required before any transaction is completed.
“People don’t expect something good to happen at their bank, or with their money,” Wealthsimple Co-founder and Chief Product Officer Brett Huneycutt said. “We want to change that. Everything we introduced today, from our AI assistant to advanced trading tools, helps take friction and fear out of money.”
Operating entirely within the Wealthsimple environment—with no client data leaving the platform—Penny can interpret broader financial goals and plot out next steps rather than simply respond to direct commands. Wealthsimple is planning new integrations by early 2027 that will allow customers to connect their accounts to external AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude. The company noted that client approval would need to be secured before setup and again in advance of any sensitive actions.
Wealthsimple’s AI agent arrives at a time when Canada’s biggest banks are restricting the ability of third-party AI agents to access their systems and pointing to cybersecurity concerns as the reason. By keeping all of its interactions within its own ecosystem while still providing AI-powered automation, Wealthsimple is addressing similar concerns in its own way .
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