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Business Security is a Priority

Interac uses world-class security technology to keep businesses safe

We start with secure technology and ensure safe usage by educating consumers and businesses on how to use our tools.

Interac debit cards are protected from fraud tactics such as counterfeiting, transaction replay and card-not-present transactions, thanks in large part to chip technology.

Interac® Debit contactless payments use EMV secure chip processing to store and process data securely. This makes it nearly impossible to create counterfeit cards, and protects consumers against fraudulent activity, including skimming, transaction replay types of fraud, and tactics like electronic pickpocketing.

Interac Debit for online payments is one of the safest ways to pay when shopping online. Merchants never have to handle personal financial information.

Interac e-Transfer® allows sending and receiving money in near real time, while keeping all personal and financial information private.

Interac Debit for mobile payments use touch ID and passcode verification to ensure only the customer can make a purchase using a mobile device. This also applies to in-app and in-browser purchases using Interac Debit.

Interac e-Transfer Bulk
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ISO 27001 Certification

Canadians trust Interac as a safe and secure way to pay, get paid and exchange data. Our ISO 27001 Certification demonstrates that security is our top priority when it comes to protecting Canadians’ sensitive information.

Business Email Compromise

Criminals are always looking for ways to target your business and Business Email Compromise (BEC) is another type of attack you need to be on the lookout for.  According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Spear Phishing and BEC accounted for over $14.5 million dollars in losses in 2020 with close to 500 victims.1 Find out how to minimize the impact your business bottom line, and how to prevent your employees from falling victim to BEC.

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Business Email Compromise, also known as BEC, is a type of phishing attack where criminals use impersonation in order to gain access to funds.  Executives within the company, employees or even other companies like suppliers or vendors, are examples of commonly impersonated parties. This type of scam is not new but has evolved over time taking advantage of our increased online presence to conduct business.

How Does it Work?

Criminals will attempt to impersonate vendors, colleagues or your business leader and try to convince you to send money or confidential information to them.  They will try to trick you by using different techniques such as lookalike domains or email address that are meant to fool you into thinking it comes from a reliable or recognizable source. 

Business Email Compromise can take on many forms however here are the most popular types:

  • CEO Fraud: Here the criminals represent themselves as the CEO or executive of a company and typically emails an employee who has responsibility to remit payments on behalf of the company, requesting them to send funds urgently and confidentially to a specific beneficiary.
  • Email Account Compromise:  An employee’s email account has been infiltrated and the attacker sends funds to a fraudulent account. 
  • False Invoice Scheme:  The criminal impersonates an existing supplier often within the same invoice giving notification of a change/different bank account which is controlled by the criminal.
How to Protect Yourself and Your Organization:
  • STOP:  If someone is asking an “out of the norm” request for confidential information or money, take a moment to reflect and ask yourself why someone would change the current process. 
  • SCRUTINIZE:  Is this an unusual request that is asking for a change to established processes/ protocols and does your instinct tell you something is off? Verbally verify any changes to existing payment details.
  • SPEAK UP:  Ask additional questions to confirm the legitimacy of the sender and the nature of the request.  Validate the information with colleagues and report it to law enforcement if it is confirmed fraudulent.
How To Protect Your Organization and Employees:
  • Set up multifactor authentication and have more than one employee responsible for approving outgoing transactions.
  • Hold regular employee awareness training.  Make cyber security awareness a priority with monthly training including password security and best practices.
  • Reach out to your financial institution and ask them how they can help protect your organization.

Interac Debit Safety

Discover the security behind Interac Debit Chip and PIN and contactless payments.

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Interac Debit for Online Payments Safety

Learn about secure online payments with Interac Debit for and tips for safe e-Commerce.

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Interac e-Transfer Safety

Explore more about Interac e-Transfer safety and important usage information.

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Canadian Anti Fraud Centre February 2021

Leading innovation

Discover how Interac was created by financial institutions to power payment innovations for Canadians.

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