FinTech Magazine June 2019 | Page 88

ALTERNA

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With this community focused drive , Alterna took on the mantle as one of Canada ’ s only ‘ cannabis banks ’ – a venture Paterson says none of the Big Five would support . “ The cannabis companies were licensed and legal , right ?” he argues . “ We didn ’ t have the right to say no : these are organizations that will employ Canadians . It ’ s a growing sector of the economy . We really took it on as a cause because we felt this was what was wrong in banking : the Big Five could say no because they had other interests globally or in the US . Three years later , we ’ re proud of that . We ’ ve helped some of these companies grow into some of the biggest Canadian corporations , creating employment in areas where it was badly needed .” This is where , for Paterson , being a ‘ David ’ pays off yet again . “ We don ’ t have the SVPs and EVPs of ‘ no , you can ’ t do that ’. We don ’ t have all the politics and bureaucracy that goes with big corporations .”

JUNE 2019