Digital Gift Cards coming to Downtown Brampton through Collaboration with Altitude Accelerator and PAIY® App
Altitude Accelerator is pleased to announce a Digital Main Street Community Collaboration Project bringing together the Downtown Brampton BIA with FinTech innovator 4PAY Inc. to pilot test their digital gift card platform PAIY® to encourage consumers to support local businesses this winter. This Digital Main Street project is made possible through financial support from the Government of Canada through FedDev Ontario’s Regional Relief and Recovery Fund.
Main streets across Ontario are under intense pressure due to COVID-19. The Digital Main Street Community Collaboration Program is focused on bringing together community members to collaboratively identify and solve local main street challenges. The goal is to add resources and assist with piloting solutions that are scaleable to help businesses across Ontario.
“Altitude Accelerator hosted virtual information sessions and a community workshop to bring together technology innovators with local community stakeholders. We are delighted to support the Downtown Brampton BIA with this Community Collaboration project,” stated Pam Banks, Executive Director of the Altitude Accelerator. “We look forward to assessing community interest in buying and redeeming digital gift cards to support local businesses.”
“The Downtown Brampton BIA is focused on supporting our members to recover from COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. We believe that 4PAY offers a robust digital gift card platform that will offer residents a great option for safely doing their holiday shopping, online or in-person, at small independent retailers who wouldn’t be able to offer digital cards on their own,” stated Suzy Godefroy, Downtown Brampton BIA Executive Director.
Neil Appalsamy, CEO of 4PAY states, “Recognizing the local merchant and consumer dynamic has been changing over the last several years, this pandemic has rapidly uncovered different levels of preparedness that could be addressed through innovative collaboration. We are excited to work with Downtown Brampton BIA to enable a buy local campaign using the PAIY® platform.”
Media Contacts
Altitude Accelerator: communications@riccentre.com
Brampton BIA: downtownbia@brampton.ca
About Altitude Accelerator
Altitude Accelerator is a not-for-profit innovation hub and business incubator serving the Peel Region and Southern Ontario. Altitude Accelerator’s focus is to be a dynamic catalyst for tech companies. The team consists of more than 100 expert advisors, industry, academic and government partners. Altitude Accelerator helps companies in Advanced Manufacturing, Internet of Things, Hardware & Software, Cleantech and Life Sciences to commercialize their products and get them to market faster.
About 4PAY Inc./ PAIY app
4PAY Inc. is a Canadian Fintech Technology corporation supporting Canadian and international operations. 4PAY has developed the PAIY® Innovation suite trusted by banks, telecom, government, enterprise and communities around the world. PAIY® (pronounced “PAY”) is used to deliver a digital gift card management platform to promote “buy local programs” through community-based gift and payment cards supporting hundreds of businesses with denominations accessible securely from a consumers’ mobile device. Consumers can easily redeem, receive, gift and transfer cards to others using the PAiY App.
About Downtown Brampton BIA
The Downtown Brampton BIA promotes and enhances downtown Brampton through marketing, events and beautification to build confidence and engagement with its members and the community. The Downtown Brampton BIA promotes the commercial area as a vibrant business and shopping district. The Downtown Brampton BIA represents over 300 retailers, restaurants and professional services; the center of the downtown at Main Street & Queen Street is known to many as the “Four Corners.”
In 1853, Brampton was officially incorporated and today is now among the largest urban centres in Canada as the 9th largest city. From its global recognition as a Smart City focused on citizens, to the emerging cultural scene that fosters immense creative talents, great things are happening in Brampton!
About Digital Main Street:
Digital Main Street is a program that helps main street businesses achieve digital transformation. The program is built around an online learning platform, structured training programs, and our Digital Service Squad, a team of street-level team members who help main street businesses grow and manage their operations through technology. Digital Main Street was created by the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas (TABIA) with direct support from the City of Toronto. DMS is also supported by a group of strategic business partners, including Google, Mastercard, Shopify, Microsoft, Facebook, and Intuit QuickBooks, Square and Yellow Pages.
A $42.5-million investment from FedDev Ontario and an additional $7.45 million from the Government of Ontario brought together the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas, Communitech, Invest Ottawa, and the Ontario Business Improvement Area Association to expand the Digital Main Street Platform in order to support more businesses to go digital as a response to the impacts of COVID-19.
About FedDev Ontario:
For more than 10 years, FedDev Ontario has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation and growth in Canada’s most populous region. Learn more about the impacts the Agency is having in southern Ontario by exploring our pivotal projects.
