Latest news with #Kipp
Finextra
4 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
Private credit fintech Credibur raises $2.2m
Berlin-based FinTech Credibur has secured $2.2 million (€1.85 million) in pre-seed funding to launch its credit infrastructure platform. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. The round is led by European FinTech VC Redstone, followed by Silicon Valley's MS&AD Ventures and Canadian VC Inovia. The round also includes several prominent business angels from the FinTech scene, including Malte Rau, Founder of Pliant, Topi Co-Founders Estelle Merle and Charlotte Pallua, along with super angel Bjarke Klinge Staun. From Manual Spreadsheets to Automated Solutions Nicolas Kipp, Founder and CEO of Credibur, knows the industry's challenges firsthand. As Co-Founder of embedded lending platform Banxware and Chief Risk Officer at Ratepay, he witnessed daily how funding and reporting processes can become operational bottlenecks that hinder growth. With Credibur, Kipp and his 10-person team are developing infrastructure that solves a central problem in the structured credit portfolio business between non-bank lenders and institutional capital providers: it automates complex, Excel-based workflows and provides all critical decision-making data in real-time. "Debt facility management is the underestimated Achilles' heel in non-bank lending – operationally complex and technologically neglected. With Credibur, we're digitalising this final frontier in the value chain and efficiently connecting institutional capital with new credit models," Kipp explains. The new platform for debt facility management goes far beyond traditional reporting tools, orchestrating the full lifecycle of institutional funding: from structuring through reporting and contract management, to capital calls and the administration of special purpose vehicles (SPVs). The solution targets alternative lenders such as buy now, pay later providers, factoring and leasing companies, as well as institutional investors, including asset managers, debt funds, and family offices. Private Credit: A High-Growth Market Facing Hurdles The majority of institutional capital providers continue to rely on manual processes or outdated systems to this day. Credibur replaces these with a modular API-and-AI-first infrastructure. This enables a more informed risk assessment and improved decision-making in the credit business. Time-consuming, error-prone Excel lists managing millions of euros become a thing of the past, as data is delivered directly from systems via interfaces. The volume of credit outside the banking sector is growing rapidly. Last year alone, global private credit volume reached approximately €2.1 trillion in assets under management according to the European Central Bank (ECB), with more than 20 percent (€430 billion) in Europe. With his experience in the structured finance business, Founder Nicolas Kipp positions Credibur as the infrastructure layer between alternative lenders and institutional investors – and as a key enabler for streamlining debt facility management. "Nicolas has already proven with Banxware and Ratepay that he can master the complexity of the credit business. With Credibur, he's now solving the next fundamental problem: manual debt facility management is slowing growth across the entire private credit sector. His infrastructure can finally digitalise this €430 billion industry in Europe", says Timo Fleig, Managing Partner at FinTech VC Redstone. "While everyone's talking about private credit as an asset class, many overlook the operational hurdles behind it. Credibur creates the technical infrastructure that institutional investors need to efficiently invest in this growing market. This is a classic infrastructure play with enormous scaling potential," adds Jon Soberg, CEO and Managing Partner at MS&AD Ventures. With this funding round, Credibur is emerging from stealth mode and is already launching with its first pilot customers. The fresh capital will flow into technical development of the API-and-AI-first infrastructure, customer acquisition, and team expansion.
Finextra
16-07-2025
- Business
- Finextra
How to Increase Transaction Success Rates for Online Merchants: By Jurijs Bordulans
In online commerce, every successful transaction counts. When a payment fails — due to fraud checks, technical issues, or user error — it can result in lost revenue and a frustrated customer who may not return. For merchants, improving transaction success rates isn't just about fixing errors behind the scenes; it's about creating a smooth, reliable experience that keeps customers coming back. With global e-commerce sales projected to reach nearly $8 trillion by 2028 (eMarketer), merchants face losses of up to $448 billion annually from payment fraud, false declines, and abuse of returns and refunds — a growing challenge that impacts revenue and customer trust. Data from the Baymard Institute indicates that transaction success rates range from 56% to 84%, depending on the industry and setup. On average, about 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned, leaving only 30% of transactions completed successfully. In high-risk sectors like online gaming, approval rates are often lower, typically 50–60%, due to stringent fraud controls and higher chargeback risks. 1. Why Payments Fail Payment failures happen for all sorts of reasons — some financial, some technical, others tied to fraud checks or customer behaviour. Here are the most common ones: Insufficient Funds A simple one: the customer doesn't have enough money in their account. You can't control that, but you can offer other payment methods — like digital wallets or buy-now-pay-later — which might save the sale. A Kipp study found that 44.4% of online transaction declines are due to insufficient funds. This means that roughly a quarter to nearly half of all declined online transactions occur because the customer's card lacks sufficient funds. Card Declined by the Bank Issuing banks often decline transactions for reasons beyond insufficient funds. These can include suspected fraudulent activity, transactions in unusual locations or currencies, or bank policies that flag certain purchases as risky. Expired or Outdated Cards When customers use expired or replaced cards (due to loss, theft, or reissuance), the transaction fails if updated card information isn't provided. This issue is common with recurring payments and subscriptions. Payment Provider Issues Sometimes, the root cause of a failed transaction is technical difficulties on the payment provider's side. This can include system outages, slow response times, or errors in the integration between the merchant's platform and the payment processor, which can disrupt valid payments. Authentication Problems Security protocols such as 3D Secure require customers to complete additional verification steps during checkout. If these steps fail to load properly, are confusing, or the customer abandons them, the transaction will be declined or left incomplete. Overly Aggressive Fraud Filters Fraud detection systems designed to protect merchants can sometimes be too strict, resulting in legitimate transactions being flagged and declined. This often affects new customers, unusual purchasing patterns, or transactions from less common regions, leading to false positives. Technical or Checkout Issues Problems within the merchant's checkout process — such as broken buttons, missing required fields, incorrect currency settings, or lack of browser compatibility — can prevent customers from completing payments. These technical issues are often overlooked but can impact conversion rates. Below are five essential strategies to help reduce payment failures and improve your overall transaction success rate. 2. Optimise Your Payment Gateway Setup Your payment gateway does more than process cards — it can make or break your transaction success rate. Ensure you're using a gateway that suits your business, supports the countries you sell to, integrates smoothly with your checkout flow, and allows sufficient control to adjust settings as needed. Rely on Multiple Acquirers Relying on a single acquirer puts all your eggs in one basket. Using multiple acquirers lets merchants route transactions smarter — for example, sending European cards to a European bank. If one route fails, another can take over. A study by ACI Worldwide and Edgar, Dunn & Company found that 85% of merchants with multiple acquirer relationships saw increased conversion rates, with 23% reporting a rise of over 10%. Failover Systems If the main payment provider is down or slow, your setup should automatically switch to a backup without disrupting the customer. This keeps transactions flowing during outages. Retries for Soft Declines Soft declines occur due to temporary issues, such as network glitches or card spending limits. Retrying the transaction after a few seconds can often turn a failed attempt into a success, recovering sales that might be lost. Smart Retries Use data to determine the best time to retry failed payments, especially those declined for insufficient funds. For recurring billing, this can reduce payment failures by up to 30% through optimised retry timing and intelligent dunning strategies. A well-configured gateway setup helps recover failed payments before the customer notices an issue. 3. Improve the Checkout Experience for Better Success Rates Creating a seamless and user-friendly checkout experience is key to turning visitors into paying customers. According to Baymard, over 70% of mobile shoppers abandon their carts, often due to complicated or slow checkout flows. Improving the experience and functionality of your payment process can significantly reduce cart abandonment and increase successful transactions. Here are some essential elements to focus on: Clear Checkout Flow Make the payment process simple and straightforward. Break it down into easy steps, avoid asking for unnecessary information, and clearly show customers where they are and what to do next. This helps reduce confusion and lowers the chance of people abandoning their carts. Real-Time Card Validation Make sure your checkout system checks the card details as customers enter them. This means errors, such as incorrect numbers or expired dates, are flagged immediately so buyers can correct them on the spot. Setting up real-time validation reduces failed transactions from simple mistakes and helps smooth the payment process. Multiple Payment Options Not everyone wants to pay the same way. Offer a variety of payment methods like credit and debit cards, popular digital wallets, local payment methods, and buy-now-pay-later options. The more choices you provide, the easier it is for customers to find a method that works. According to the Digital Economy Payments report by PYMNTS, 15% of consumers use at least three or more payment methods, with at least two being non-traditional methods, such as digital wallets, cryptocurrency, or buy-now-pay-later (BNPL). Mobile Optimisation Many shoppers use their phones, so your checkout must work smoothly on all devices. Make sure buttons are easy to tap, pages load quickly, and the layout adapts well to smaller screens. A mobile-friendly checkout keeps customers engaged throughout the purchase process. 4. Leverage Smart Transaction Routing One of the most effective ways to boost approval rates is smart transaction routing, which directs each payment through the path most likely to succeed. Instead of sending every transaction through a single acquirer or processor, merchants can route payments dynamically based on factors like card type (debit vs. credit), issuing bank, customer location, or the historical performance of a route. For instance, if an acquirer often declines cards from a specific country, the system can reroute those transactions elsewhere. Modern payment orchestration platforms and advanced Payment Service Providers (PSPs) offer tools to support this logic. Many PSPs use AI and machine learning to monitor performance data in real-time, identifying which factors lead to success or failure and adjusting routing rules accordingly. This allows routing strategies to improve over time without manual intervention. For high-volume or international merchants, this setup can significantly reduce declines caused by mismatches between issuer expectations and processor behaviour. Smart payment routing can increase approval rates by 10–15% on average. Solutions like Adaptive Acceptance leverage machine learning to optimise transaction submissions to issuers, refining message formatting and routing paths. This can recover up to 10% of falsely declined payments, unlocking billions in potential revenue for merchants. 5. Reduce False Declines with Better Fraud Prevention False declines — when legitimate transactions are mistakenly blocked — are a growing issue for online merchants. They not only cost sales but also erode customer trust. Balancing fraud prevention with high approval rates is critical. False declines are a costly problem, with global losses reaching $443 billion annually, far surpassing actual fraud losses. In fact, 62% of online merchants report rising false decline rates over the past two years, underscoring the need for smarter fraud prevention and approval optimisation strategies. To reduce false declines while protecting against fraud, merchants should adopt a tailored, intelligent approach. Here are three key ways: Customise Fraud Rules to Fit Your Business Model Generic fraud rules may suit broad scenarios, but often fail to reflect your specific customer base. By tailoring fraud logic to your product type, transaction patterns, and user behaviour, you can filter out real threats without blocking legitimate activity. This fine-tuning is vital for industries like digital goods, travel, or subscriptions, where standard spending patterns may not apply. Use Machine Learning–Driven Fraud Solutions Unlike rigid, rule-based systems, modern fraud prevention tools powered by machine learning adapt to evolving customer behaviour. These systems analyse thousands of variables in real-time, making smarter decisions. Over time, they become more accurate at distinguishing legitimate from fraudulent transactions, significantly reducing false positives while securing your store. Use 3D Secure 2.0 (3DS2) for Smarter Authentication 3D Secure 2.0, an updated payment authentication standard, supports compliance with regulations like PSD2 in Europe. When used effectively, 3DS2 reduces false declines through risk-based authentication, allowing low-risk transactions to proceed without extra steps while flagging suspicious ones for verification. This balances strong security with minimal friction, especially for mobile shoppers, who often abandon purchases if the process feels cumbersome. 6. Work Closely with Payment Partners to Improve Success Rates Your PSP and acquirer are more than vendors — they're key partners in transaction success. Working closely with them helps identify hidden issues and implement targeted improvements to boost approval rates. To foster strategic collaboration with payment partners and enhance approval rates, adopt a proactive approach. Here are three tips: Conduct Regular, In-Depth Performance Reviews Go beyond surface metrics by analysing approval rates by region, issuer, and payment method. Work with your PSP to access detailed transaction data and pinpoint issues affecting success rates. Gain a Clear Understanding of Decline Reasons Issuer decline codes are often vague. Collaborate with your PSP to gain context and identify patterns behind declines. This insight is crucial for addressing root causes and improving authorisation outcomes. Collaborate on Routing and Optimisation Strategies Use advanced PSP tools like intelligent routing, retry logic, and dynamic risk scoring. Ensure these are tailored to your business needs through ongoing optimisation with your payment partners. A proactive, collaborative relationship with your payment partners can drive measurable gains in revenue and customer satisfaction. Conclusion Improving transaction success rates isn't about one big fix — it's about optimising every step, from checkout to fraud screening to backend routing. By understanding payment failures, refining your gateway setup, ensuring a seamless user experience, and leveraging smarter tools and partnerships, merchants can recover lost revenue and retain customers.
Business Wire
21-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
FIS Partners With Issuer-Merchant Collaboration Platform Kipp To Prevent Card Declines and Unlock Revenue for Debit Issuers
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- FIS ® (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in financial technology, today announced a strategic partnership with Letskipp Ltd. (Kipp), a collaboration platform for card issuers and merchants, to introduce an innovative non-sufficient funds (NSF) authorization solution to its debit clients. This first-to-market offer is designed to combat the long-standing challenge of declined transactions due to insufficient funds, which can help issuers recover lost revenue and drive top-of-wallet status with customers. With this solution, FIS is unlocking growth for its card issuing clients by helping to streamline financial operations, reduce friction and improve efficiency. Industry data shows that the leading cause of card declines is insufficient funds, causing revenue loss, customer frustration and higher contact center costs. For merchants, these declines result in lost sales and wasted product and time. For issuers, declined transactions bring unpredictability at the point of sale for customers, increasing consumer frustration and impacting loyalty. The solution offers issuers the ability to approve transactions even when the available balance is insufficient – without imposing overdraft fees on consumers – by enabling merchants to voluntarily pay a premium to authorize NSF transactions. This reimagined economic model can generate additional revenue for issuers while helping to preserve the customer experience at the point of sale. Through this partnership, issuers can quickly take advantage of this interconnected solution, helping money move dynamically through debit accounts, card networks and payment systems. 'As money moves between merchants, companies, and financial institutions and card issuers, every transfer should be timely and seamless. This partnership underscores FIS' commitment to helping our clients unlock new revenue streams and deliver smooth payment experiences,' said Jim Johnson, co-president, Banking Solutions, at FIS. 'Our NSF authorization solution with Kipp tackles a key point of friction in the payments journey, helping issuers retain customers and drive long-term value throughout the money lifecycle.' "We're excited to join forces with FIS to bring our innovative NSF solution to a broader market," said Chanan Lavi, CEO and co-founder of Kipp. 'By reducing declines, we're helping merchants and issuers to deepen customer relationships, protect transaction volume and grow revenue, without burdening consumers.' This solution reinforces FIS' accomplishments in helping deliver efficient, end-to-end experiences for businesses to bring the world's money into harmony. For more information about this solution, visit FIS is a financial technology company providing solutions to financial institutions, businesses, and developers. We unlock financial technology to the world across the money lifecycle underpinning the world's financial system. Our people are dedicated to advancing the way the world pays, banks and invests, by helping our clients to confidently run, grow, and protect their businesses. Our expertise comes from decades of experience helping financial institutions and businesses of all sizes adapt to meet the needs of their customers by harnessing where reliability meets innovation in financial technology. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, FIS is a member of the Fortune 500® and the Standard & Poor's 500® Index. To learn more, visit Follow FIS on LinkedIn, Facebook and X.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kalispell-based nonprofit sees federal funds pulled, then restored
May 13—Cassidy Kipp opened an email on March 6 to find out that federal dollars meant to help pay for renovating the Community Action Partnership of Northwest Montana's headquarters had abruptly been pulled. The nonprofit, of which Kipp is the director of project development, connects individuals across Northwest Montana with community programs like heating and rental assistance. It was using the money on its new location at 1820 U.S. 93 S. in Kalispell, which also houses a recently launched subsidized child care program. The email, which had come from an intermediary responsible for dolling out the dollars, said that "without warning and without consultation, all of the grants were pulled nationally." The money had been rescinded the week prior, according to the message. Kipp immediately halted work on the new facility. The Community Action Partnership relocated at the end of 2024 to a new building along U.S. 93. The organization was in the middle of pre-development planning to spruce up the new place when the funds were pulled. "We had an engineer working, we had landscape architects going in," she said. "Thankfully, we hadn't accrued a ton of expenses in that window of time, but we had to just terminate all efforts and pivot," she added. The two grants funding the project came from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 4 competitive grant program, which is intended to help nonprofits carry out community development activities. Each grant amounted to between $40,000 and $60,000, according to Kipp. "We love those grants because they are capacity building grants," meaning they are meant to support the nonprofit's mission to provide services, Kipp said. But more than a month later, Kipp arrived in her office on April 29 to find another email: The grants had been reinstated. An official from the federal housing department told the Inter Lake that the grant program was halted for being out of compliance with President Donald Trump's spate of executive orders. Kipp said that the specific order the program was in violation of was "Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing," which Trump signed on Jan. 20. The federal agency told the Inter Lake that organizations could appeal the Section 4 grant revocations on a case-by-case basis. A national organization, Rural — Local Initiatives Support Corporation, which was responsible for distributing the grant funds, successfully appealed the cancellation, according to a post on the organization's website. "For over 30 years, [the Rural-Local Initiatives Support Corporation] has been a trusted steward of the Section 4 program—helping nonprofits grow, stabilize, and deepen their impact," read the post. Kipp said she is always looking for ways to make operations more efficient, but that the federal dollars funding building revitalization is not an example of wasteful spending or contributing to a woke agenda. "All we were trying to do with this particular programming is align with what the city requirements are for our campus space and to make sure that we are being a good neighbor," Kipp said. "We're talking about [eliminating] bunch grasses in the front yard, not about some woke agenda," she added. THE LEARNING Tree Preschool is a new low-income child care facility that can host up to 24 kids and holds story times, group music and cooperative games. Stockman Bank helped build a playground on the property, which also houses the Community Action Partnership's headquarters, said Kipp. The need for low-priced child care was identified in the nonprofit's annual community needs assessment. "It's a barrier that pops up time and time again, where people are constantly having to have that juggle of covering child care expenses and getting work," Kipp said. The Kalispell location is also home to a paid HVAC apprenticeship program. Participants conduct energy audits at homes and retrofit energy saving techniques like replacing windows, furnaces or woods stoves. "We're training young people to get out in the field," Kipp said. ALTHOUGH THE grants were restored, business is not as usual. Kipp said she remains on edge and will continue to be nimble with funding by finding ways to diversify revenue. "I think that everybody anticipates that there are still more cuts to come," she said. The nonprofit owns six different low-income apartment complexes, comprising of 152 units, most of which are dedicated toward seniors or individuals with a disabling condition, according to Kipp. Heating assistance remains the most used program, according to the nonprofit's end-of-year statistics. "What we found is that increasingly we are having more folks who are homeowners seeking help to alleviate things like heating burdens," she said. Reporter Jack Underhill may be reached at 758-4407 and junderhill@
Hamilton Spectator
05-05-2025
- General
- Hamilton Spectator
‘A day to never forget': Niagara's Lincoln and Welland Regiment played key role in Dutch liberation
It has been 80 years since Canadian forces accepted the surrender of the German army in the Netherlands on May 5, 1945, ending five years of Nazi occupation. Members of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment were part of the First Canadian Army, which played a pivotal role in that country's liberation from the Nazis in the Second World War. The Lincoln and Welland troops were battle hardened by the time they arrived at the Dutch-Belgian border. Members of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment take cover from German sniper fire in northwest Europe in 1945. They were part of the fierce fighting at the Falaise Gap, south of Caen in France, in late August 1944 when the Allies encircled retreating German troops and closed the gap they had been moving through. 'When they landed in France in July 1944, they would have been pushing west through Belgium and eventually into the Netherlands which would have been in the fall of 1944,' said Drew Neufeld, a master warrant officer and regimental historian with Lincoln and Welland Regiment. Unknown members of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment in the Netherlands sometime between 1944 and 1945 In October 1944, the Niagara regiment played a significant role in the Battle of the Scheldt, a crucial campaign to open the Scheldt estuary, a river that borders Belgium and the Netherlands with its mouth at the North Sea. 'It was very important that they opened the Scheldt estuary to be able to supply the soldiers efficiently,' Neufeld said. During the Battle of the Scheldt, the Lincoln and Welland group helped liberate Bergen op Zoom , a town just north of the Scheldt. A zoom is a canal or waterway. 'Press On' upon its arrival at the Lake Street Armoury in March 1945. The officer standing next to the tank is Major Edward J. Brady DSO. (B Company Officer Commanding). 'A lot of the company commanders will say it was the worst experience,' Neufeld said. 'The whole liberation, too, was kind of an anomaly where the commander of the German army at the time made a deal with the mayor (of the town), saying, 'If you don't give away our position and help the Allies, we won't destroy the (town), we will move to the north which would be the canal and we'll keep the fighting to the outskirts of the (town) and not really destroy the main part.'' Neufeld noted. In his book ' Because We Are Canadians: A Battlefield Memoir ,' Sgt. Charles Kipp with the Lincoln and Welland Regiment recalls planning of the siege of Bergen op Zoom took place in the basement of a home near the town that was owned by a Mr. Luijten, an English professor who acted as an interpreter for the Canadians. Their conversation inspired the title of Kipp's book. Following preparation discussions, Kipp says a toast was raised to the success of the coming battle, and their host asked why they appeared so steady and not nervous about what was to come. 'Because we are Canadians,' Kipp and his colleagues replied. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the freeing of Bergen Op Zoom by the Lincoln and Welland Kipp writes the Lincoln and Welland soldiers made their way into the town during the night on Oct. 18, swimming across the zoom and making their way to the top of a dyke and along a rail line that ran across it. Creeping along in the darkness, they came under machine gunfire. 'It was devastating,' Kipp writes. 'I could see and hear men going down all around me, but for some reason I was not hit.' Drew Neufeld, master warrant officer and regimental historian with Lincoln and Welland Regiment, in front of 'Press On' at the Lake Street Armoury. The Canadians escaped down the side of the dyke, back into the zoom. 'The sky over our heads was one big sheet of flames from the German guns,' Kipp writes. The surviving soldiers eventually made their way to an eight-foot-high wall outside a gin factory. 'Out of our entire company of about 30 strong, 13 men got into the factory,' Kipp said. The Canadians fought room to room and in the hallways, shooting in the darkness. 'We were just running all over and shooting everything we could see,' Kipp writes. 'It was pitch dark. The only light came from the muzzle flashes of the guns.' Of the 13 Lincoln and Welland soldiers who had made it to the gin factory, Kipp said only eight were left when the fighting was over. On Oct. 27, 1944, Bergen op Zoom was liberated by the Canadians. Neufeld said the Lincoln and Welland Regiment fought so fiercely in its push through the Netherlands, it gained a reputation for toughness among the enemy. 'One of my favourite quotes during that time was from a German prisoner who said, 'The Lincoln and Welland Regiment has no sentiment, no discipline and no mercy' because they were so tenacious and determined to meet their objectives,' Neufeld said. 'They effectively pushed their way through the Netherlands, along with the rest of the Canadian Army and Allied forces, into Germany.' The push through the Netherlands was a slow and bloody slog. 'I can only imagine the hardships and struggles they would have went through,' Neufeld said. '(They saw) the best and worst of humanity.' By the time the Netherlands was liberated on May 5, 1945, more than 7,600 Canadians had died in the eight months of fighting it took to get there. Days later, Germany formally surrendered, ending the Second World War in Europe. 'The Dutch people cheered Canadian troops as one town after another was liberated,' states a Canadian government website detailing Canada's involvement in the liberation of the Netherlands. 'This was a memorable time for the people of the Netherlands.' Jack Sinke was a six-year-old boy in the Netherlands when the Germans invaded in May 1940. Jack Sinke was a six-year-old boy when the Germans invaded the Netherlands in May 1940. He recalls being in awe of the invaders. 'It was kind of exciting at first,' said the 91-year-old Vineland resident whose family lived on a farm near the Belgian border. 'At first, the Germans were friendly, but later on we heard about concentration camps and stuff like that, then I looked at them like enemies.' In a 2011 letter to his grandchildren, Sinke recalled the Germans taking most of the locals' food and raiding store shelves and sending all the clothing and other materials back to Germany. 'My father raised pigs, but was only allowed to keep two for his own family,' the letter says. 'All the others he had to sell to the Germans for a cheap price.' Sinke's letter recalls the time his father was confronted by two German soldiers who came to the house demanding he hand over his two remaining pigs, but his father refused. 'The German shifted a bit, pretended to loosen his gun and said, 'If you don't give us those pigs, we will take your children,'' the letter says. 'Then my dad lost his temper and screamed, 'If you touch my children, I will kill you.'' Sinke says he got scared and hid behind his mother's skirt. Then it got quiet, and he looked to see the German soldiers leaving without the pigs. Sinke said he was 10 years old in the fall of 1944 when residents in his area got word the Canadian Army was pushing into the Netherlands from Belgium. 'The Canadians were going to free us,' said Sinke, who recalls hearing the Allied gunfire in the distance and squadrons of Allied bombers flying over their house, en route to targets in Germany. 'The glass in the windows rattled,' he said. By early November 1944, his village had been liberated. 'We were so happy,' Sinke said. Engelbert Marinus points to the house he and his family lived in when the Netherlands were liberated by Canadians on May 5, 1945. Engelbert Marinus was born in Soestdijk, southeast of Amsterdam, in 1938. He noted the nearby airport was a frequent target of attack because it was wanted by both the Germans and the Allies. 'Most of my early life was dangerous and scary,' Marinus recalled. The former Grimsby resident who now lives in Stoney Creek said the family later moved to Ootmarsom , near the German border, where he started school. Marinus recalled the Canadians and other Allies appearing in the forests around the city. Liberation was at hand. 'There were Canadians, English, Polish, American and Australian camps meeting there,' said Marinus, who recalled visiting each of the camps and getting to try their food. 'I was welcomed as a kid,' he said. Marinus noted May 5 remains a special day for Dutch people. 'For me, it is a day to never forget,' he said. A reminder of the Lincoln and Welland Regiment's service in the Second World War sits in front of the Lake Street Armoury in St. Catharines. The M5A1 Stuart VI recce tank came into the regiment's possession in late February 1945. A St. Catharines Standard article from March 7, 1946, (the day after its arrival at the armoury after being transported to St. Catharines on the back of a flat rail car) noted the tank had been with one of the armoured units of the British Columbia Tank Regiment, but was disabled after it ran over a mine on the edge of the Hochwald Forest near the Dutch-German border. ''Gosh, I'd like to have that,' said Lt. Col. Rowan C Coleman, DSO, then commander of the Lincs,' the article says. ''OK, it's yours,' came the prompt reply.' The article says members of the regiment's pioneer platoon started swarming over the tank. 'In no time at all, they had ripped off the turret and gun, lightening the tank by four tons. It was rewired and repaired, and the limbering battlewagon came out of its death throes as a trim, speedy reconnaissance carrier,' the article states. On the front of the tank was 'Press On' — one of the favourite expressions of Lt-Gen Guy Simond, acting commander of the 1st Canadian Army, to encourage his troops in battle — painted in large white letters. The article noted when Press On arrived in St. Catharines, it was covered in flags and signatures. 'There are the flags of the countries touched by the tank: Canada, France, Belgium, Holland and, finally, Germany. Then there are autographs, dozens of them. Many boys from St. Catharines and other points in the Niagara district painted their names on the tank for posterity,' the article says. may 5 remains a special day on the calendar in the Netherlands, where the liberations is celebrated as a national holiday and the sacrifices of Allied soldiers, particularly Canadians, are remembered.
