{"id":100241,"date":"2022-08-30T16:20:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-30T16:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interac1.wpengine.com\/?post_type=content&p=100241"},"modified":"2025-05-30T19:39:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T23:39:23","slug":"what-one-billion-interac-e-transfer-transactions-mean-for-canadian-businesses","status":"publish","type":"content","link":"https:\/\/www.interac.ca\/en\/content\/business\/what-one-billion-interac-e-transfer-transactions-mean-for-canadian-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"What one billion Interac<\/i> e-Transfer transactions mean for Canadian businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In April 2022, Interac reached a money movement milestone with Interac<\/em> e-Transfer use surpassing more than one billion transactions<\/strong><\/a> over a 12-month period. Of all these Interac<\/em> e-Transfer transactions, 19 per cent involved a business<\/strong>. In fact, almost half (47 per cent)<\/strong> of Interac<\/em> e-Transfer users <\/strong>have leveraged the service to pay a small business \u2014 a practice that\u2019s becoming more common<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond numbers, these stats represent millions<\/em> of businesses across Canada who showed their resilience, agility, and creativity by shifting to digital payments at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, as businesses of all sizes and across all industries adapt and grow with the evolving needs of customers \u2014 one billion Interac<\/em> e-Transfer transactions mark the increasing relevance of seamless, online, real-time payments (including business payments) for Canadians everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How digital payment processing has helped businesses<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the last 20 years, Canadians have been using Interac<\/em> e-Transfer<\/a> in their personal lives to send and receive money quickly and safely. But the pandemic accelerated the need to shift to contactless, digital payments<\/a> \u2014 and that trust and familiarity naturally translated to using the service to pay for products and services. Many businesses and entrepreneurs turned to Interac<\/em> e-Transfer to accept digital customer payments as a critical part of the pivot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anurag Kar, our AVP of Money Movement describes the pandemic\u2019s impact on the digitization of payments in a recent interview with PYMNTS.com<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For everyday payment processing, Interac <\/em>e-Transfer helps businesses strengthen relationships with customers, suppliers, and employees. With its simple user experience<\/a> (all you need is an email account or phone number and a Canadian bank account), businesses can instantly accept money for new products and services, experiment with business models, and pay vendors and employees with a digital \u201cpaper trail.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has been especially critical at times when businesses have had to develop new ways of reaching their customers, and times of unpredictable cash flow. When the pandemic hit, small businesses like Simone\u2019s Caribbean on the Danforth<\/a> had to pivot from dine-in to mostly take-out and catering. Using Interac<\/em> e-Transfer was a crucial part of keeping the business going. It provided an effortless way to get paid directly and instantly for new catering services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, entrepreneurs like made-in-Toronto menswear designer, Outclass<\/a>, used Interac<\/em> e-Transfer to help keep and develop robust relationships with local suppliers and manufacturers. For plant-based pasta sauce company, Nona Vegan<\/a>, the <\/em>platform became a go-to payment tool to help manage real-time cash flow and survive the pandemic\u2019s constant ebbs and flows. \u201cEverything was so unpredictable. So, our cash flow was super-duper tight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as the pandemic turned the business landscape on its head, it also accelerated the trend for \u201cthe Great Resignation\u201d and opportunities to make the most out of life. Kira Noel Photography<\/a> started out as a passion project that quickly grew into a viable business. It was Kira\u2019s kids who inspired her to start her own photography business, but soon friends and family started asking her to take their photos. Interac<\/em> e-Transfer became a fast and easy solution to help her launch the business, without having to chase down payments or wait for cheques to clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swipe through to see how small businesses used Interac<\/em> e-Transfer to adapt and pivot to digital payments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pivoting to digital money transfers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n