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Interac e-Transfer Disclosure

Interac e-Transfer® is a person-to-person, person-to-business, business-to-person and business-to-business electronic payment system offered through online banking with participating Canadian financial institutions. It is a payment service that enables low value transactions for domestic digital money transfers within Canada. The domestic service is offered by over 250 Financial Institutions (“FIs”) and enables customers to instantly send, request and receive money between accounts using an email address or mobile phone number. The Interac e-Transfer service is directly integrated into the mobile and online banking platforms of these FIs.

Interac Corp. (“Interac”) is the organization that operates the Interac e-Transfer and Interac e-Transfer Bulk Disbursement services (“the Service”), along with other payment systems. Interac is responsible for the functional and operational management, continual development, and commercialization of the service, which is then offered to participating FIs, or “Participants”. 

Participants can be either Direct or Indirect Connectors, which describes how they access the Service. Direct Connectors connect directly to the Service and Indirect Connectors connect through a Direct Connector or Connection Service Provider and both are signatories to a Participation Agreement for the Service. Affiliates can either access the Service through their parent Participant or sign their own Participation Agreement. Credit unions access the Service through a credit union association, and Downstream Entities are co-brand partners to a Participant – neither of these categories are Participants to the Service.

Interac’s shareholders are a diverse body of financial services entities, including banks, credit unions, caisses populaires, and payment acquirers. 

Interac and its predecessors Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation, have delivered secure financial transactions through innovative and convenient debit and money transfer solutions for over 35 years. It does so by way of shared, scalable technology platforms, offered through payment options that are low-cost, secure, with high availability (24x7x365) and supported by highly effective fraud monitoring, detection, and response techniques. 

Interac e-Transfer Prominent Payment System Designation

Interac e-Transfer was designated as a Prominent Payment System (“PPS”) under the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act in August 2020, bringing the system under formal oversight by the Bank of Canada (“the Bank”) and making it subject to the Bank’s Criteria and Risk-Management Standards for Prominent Payment Systems. 

This is the first public release of Interac’s disclosure on the PPS standards. Updates will be provided and published following significant changes to the system or its environment. This document is intended to provide relevant disclosure to Participants and Stakeholders on Interac’s governance, operations and risk-management framework with regard to Interac e-Transfer. 

The following are Interac e-Transfer services: 

  • Autodeposit / Alias Payment (“Autodeposit”)
  • Q&A Send Money 
  • Request Money 
  • Interac e-Transfer for Business Real-time Account Number Routing Payment (“Interac e-Transfer for Business”)

The following are Interac e-Transfer Bulk Disbursement services: 

  • Bulk Disbursements 
  • Bulk Payables / Bulk Receivables (“Interac e-Transfer Bulk”)

These services fall under PPS designation standards in that they represent domestic money movement and are offered as general Canadian financial services that impact end customer usage and have the potential to pose risks to economic activity through disruption / failure in the payments system.