The PayPod

Earlier this year, Payments Canada issued a public consultation on policy proposals in relation to membership expansion, with the intention of collecting responses to inform drafting instructions for amendments to Payments Canada by-laws. In this episode of The PayPod, Payments Canada’s Director of Policy discusses why Payments Canada initiated this public consultation, what key themes emerged and how we will incorporate this public feedback into our by-laws.

From the renewed momentum of the Real-Time Rail payment system, to the Retail Payments Activities Act, to open banking legislation and Canadian Payments Act amendments receiving Royal Assent, 2024 was a year of great change for payments in Canada. How will 2025 further advance modern payments for Canadians?

Payments Canada released its annual Canadian Payment Methods and Trends report in early October, which analyzes retail payment transactions. In 2023, that number was 21.7 billion. The report compares year-over-year payment method trends and also focuses on how payment innovation has evolved Canadian purchasing behaviours and preferences. Wearables, Generative AI (GenAI) and home device and social platform purchases figured prominently, but with real-time payments coming to Canada, how will the payment landscape adopt, adapt and change?

The real-time movement of money enabled by the RTR will give Canadians more control over their finances by allowing payments to be cleared and settled in seconds and providing greater confidence that payments have been finalized. In this episode of The PayPod, Payments Canada and the RTR’s strategic partners discuss collaboration, security, resiliency and how the made in Canada RTR system will change payments for all Canadians.

From commercialization opportunities in real-time payments, to harnessing the power of ISO 20022, to the game-changing potential of AI, innovation is everywhere across today’s payment ecosystem, in Canada and around the globe. In this episode of The PayPod, we revisit a main stage discussion from The 2024 SUMMIT, where panelists explored the biggest developments in payments and predicted what we’ll be talking about in 2025.