Abraham Tachjian to serve as Brim’s regulation chief as federal open banking framework remains in progress.
Abraham Tachjian, the former federally appointed lead on Canada’s efforts to institute open banking, has now joined Toronto-based FinTech startup Brim Financial as its chief regulatory affairs officer.
“It was clear to me early on that Brim wasn’t just another fintech—it’s a platform with global potential.”
Abraham Tachjian
Brim Financial
Tachjian announced his new role at the credit card infrastructure company in a LinkedIn post. He will also serve as senior vice-president to the office of Brim Financial CEO Rasha Katabi, according to his profile.
“It was clear to me early on that Brim wasn’t just another fintech—it’s a platform with global potential, led by a founder whose clarity of purpose and drive are truly inspiring,” Tachjian wrote. “That’s why this next step was a natural one.”
Founded in 2017, Brim is a certified credit card issuer that sells technology infrastructure to help other financial institutions—including banks, FinTech firms, credit unions, and large companies—launch and manage credit card and loyalty programs for customers.
Brim raised an $85-million Series C round last year to fuel its expansion into the United States. At the time, Katabi told BetaKit that the company’s product roadmap would focus on platform automation and integrating open banking capabilities.
Tachjian, who was the head of open banking at consulting firm PwC Financial for five years, was appointed by the Canadian government in 2022 to lead industry consultations on open banking and design a framework to implement it. He delivered the final recommendations in the fall of 2023, as his initial 18-month term was extended until the end of that year.
The Canadian government took the first steps towards the adoption of an open banking system in 2018. The FinTech sector has long argued that such a system would pave the way for new entrants in Canada’s banking landscape, which is currently dominated by a handful of large banks. Advocates also argue that open banking will give Canadians more control over their financial data and how they share it.
Open banking primer
Canada has been on a long and winding path toward open banking since 2018. This collection of stories will catch you up on progress to date:
Despite years of industry advocacy and consultations, open banking, also called a consumer-driven banking framework, has yet to materialize in Canada. The federal government used its 2024 Fall Economic Statement to share details of how accreditation would work under an open banking system, but pushed back its launch until 2026.
When Prime Minister Mark Carney was elected in April, his platform did not mention open banking. However, some industry advocates expressed cautious optimism that the new administration would help move the framework forward, given Carney’s experience running the Bank of Canada and Bank of England.
Last month, the commissioner of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC), which is charged with constructing and implementing an open banking framework, provided an update on the agency’s work but gave no set timeline for delivery. The agency is working on a consumer awareness strategy, an accreditation process, and common rules, the commissioner said.
Feature image courtesy BetaKit.
