February 1, 2012--Payfirma, the leader of mobile payments for businesses in Canada, announces the availability of the next version of its mobile payment app . The updated app brings a host of new features that make accepting credit cards on iPhones and iPads faster and easier than ever before. The app also boasts a sleeker design that doubles the speed tomake transactions.
January 30, 2012--Visa Canada and Imperial Parking Canada Corporation (Impark) today announced they are partnering to bring Visa payWave contactless payments to 72 of its attended parking facilities across Canada. As of January 2012, drivers at participating parking lots will be able to simply "wave and go", when purchasing parking at a payWave enabled Impark parking lot.
January 24, 2012--MortgagesCanada.ca, a leading Canadian online mortgage broker and financial services destination, announced today a partnership with leading mobile payment processing technology company, Payfirma.
January 20, 2012--Aconite, a UK-based provider of mobile application management and EMV transaction processing services, and Canadian technology company Paymobile have entered a partnership for the EMV Prepaid Card Issuance Program Management in Canada.
January 11, 2012--Canadians and new GoPayment users in the U.S. can soon easily accept credit cards on a mobile device with the GoPayment app and a newly-designed, free credit card reader. Intuit Inc. today announced that it plans to take its free GoPayment mobile credit card app and card reader hardware global, with the first implementation in Canada.
January 10, 2012--Visa Inc.and Visa Europe today announced that NFC-enabled smartphones from Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Research In Motion (RIM) have been certified for use with Visa's mobile application for payments at the point-of-sale, Visa payWave. The Samsung Galaxy SII, LG Optimus NET NFC, BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Bold 9790, BlackBerry Curve 9360 and BlackBerry Curve 9380 have been added to the list of Visa compliant payment products available for commercial deployment by financial institutions.
January 9, 2012--Visa Canada and WestJet today announced that Canadian card holders can now use Visa Debit to purchase airline tickets online and through the airline's Sales Super Centre. With Visa Debit, card holders can safely and conveniently pay directly from their bank account for air travel.
December 20, 2011--TD Canada Trust ranked first in Surviscor’s 2011 Public Website scorCard, a comprehensive, impartial audit of online features and functionality on the public/pre-login website of leading Canadian banks and credit unions.
December 16, 2011--Payfirma, the company that is making mobile payment acceptance possible in Canada, today announced a new milestone in its rapid growth. Having launched in early 2011, Payfirma is now processing more than $1 million per day across its thousands of merchants accepting credit cards through mobile, ecommerce and in-store payment solutions.
December 15, 2011--USA Fulfillment, a US-based delivery company, has joined forces with Canadian payment processing company PacNet Service. By integrating the PacNet’s payment processing services with USA Fulfillment’s online banking interface, customers around the globe will gain access to personalised payment processing services. Furthermore, customers are not required a US bank account or US residence.
December 13, 2011-- SAS Canada, the leader in business analytics software and services and TransUnion, a global leader in credit and information management, today announced the development of one of the first consortiums in Canada that will leverage anonymized credit file information, in conjunction with application and fraud data from participating financial institutions to greatly enhance fraud detection.
December 1, 2011-- Visa Canada and Metro Inc. today announced they are partnering to bring Visa payWave contactless payments to over 600 grocery stores in Ontario and Quebec. Beginning early next year, shoppers will be able to simply "wave and go" when making every day purchases at Metro, Metro Plus, Super C and Food Basics.
November 23, 2011-- NetSecure Payments Inc, leading developer of secure payment solutions, announces the Kudos credit card acceptance kit will be given away free to eligible non-profits and charities in the United States and Canada starting today. This promotion, available to those who provide proof of non-profit status, is designed to give these organizations an added donation method in the hope of encouraging extra giving this holiday season.
November 14, 2011-- Visa Canada and Sears Canada Inc. today announced the availability of Visa Debit to enable Canadian card holders to safely and conveniently pay for purchases made online - at www.sears.ca, or over the phone through the Sears catalogue at 1-800-26-Sears, directly from their bank account.
November 8, 2011-- Today, Starbucks Canada launched the Starbucks Canada App for iPhone - the only Quick Service Restaurant mobile payment platform and the largest mobile payment program in the country. Available on any iPhone device, the new, free app provides Canadian customers with a faster, more convenient way to manage their Starbucks Card and track their My Starbucks Rewards status on-the-go.
November 2, 2011-- Travelex Global Business Payments, a global payment services provider, has launched a MasterCard prepaid reloadable foreign currency card in Canada available in USD, EUR and GBP. The new MasterCard Cash Passport card is compatible with the chip-and-PIN technology recently adopted in Canada.
November 1, 2011-- VeriFone Systems, Inc. today announced it has acquired Global Bay Mobile Technologies, a leading provider of next-generation mobile retail solutions. The acquisition is the latest development in VeriFone’s strategy to bring the power of mobile into the world of retail and payments, extending new smartphone- and tablet-based shopping and payment experiences to retail organizations.
October 31, 2011-- The Western Union Company today announced plans to launch an electronic wallet for clients of Western Union Business Solutions. The technology supported by hyperWALLET’s global payment platform will allow clients using Business Solutions’ Online FX platform to add and hold funds on balance for future use and enable them to make simple email payments to international recipients.
October 26, 2011-- Chase Paymentech, a leading merchant acquirer and payment processor, today announced the launch of its Safetech Encryption in Canada, a solution to help protect merchants and consumers from payment card fraud and data theft.
October 25, 2011-- ebpSource, the leading provider of high volume e-billing and payment solutions worldwide is proud to announce its involvement in helping the Canadian Tolling Company International Inc. (407 ETR) to go live with a dynamic new customer self-service portal.
October 6, 2011--
Refog Inc. has updated their entire range of its computer surveillance products with a long-requested feature: the ability to disable the interception of financial information. The new option effectively disables keystroke logging if a credit card number is being entered.
September 27, 2011--Research conducted by Capital One Canada shows that in the past year only a quarter (26%) of Quebeckers have taken the time to research different kinds of credit cards. Furthermore, Quebeckers are unique in their credit card preferences with almost half (43%) preferring cash back rewards compared to the rest of Canada (28.5%) who prefer to redeem their rewards for travel.
September 21, 2011--TIO Networks Corp., North America’s leading multi-channel expedited bill payment processor, today announced the launch of its Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) mobile bill payment application for Android. This new app allows PG&E customers in Northern and Central California to conveniently pay their utility bills on an expedited basis through their Android smartphones. Android users can now download the application for free from the Android Market.
September 20, 2011--Open Solutions Inc., a leading provider of integrated enabling technologies for financial service providers across the United States, Canada and other international markets, announced today that it has acquired the assets and employees of Calypso Canada from Transaction Network Services Inc.as of August 31, 2011.
September 13, 2011--BMO Bank of Montreal announced today it has launched its Mobile PayPass Tag, a technology that allows BMO personal credit card customers to make purchases through a sticker affixed to their mobile phone and receive an instant email verification of each transaction.
September 8, 2011---The cheque book and passbook have taken a back seat in the financial lives of many Canadians, as people continue to embrace online banking to streamline and simplify their everyday banking habits. According to the 2011T D Canada Trust Everyday Banking Poll, Canadians selected online banking as the most preferred method of paying bills (65 percent), followed by preauthorized debits (16 percent), branch banking (eight percent), telephone banking (five percent), at an ATM (three percent) and by cheque in the mail (two percent).
September 7, 2011---Today Sun Life Financial launched its free mobile application for the iPhone mobile digital device and BlackBerry® smartphone. This new application, my Sun Life ( Canada), provides existing group benefits and group retirement and savings plan members across Canada the ability to submit benefit claims, check plan balances and find ways to save for the future in a single mobile app.
August 31, 2011---Visa announced today that 43 Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) Green P lots in the City of Toronto have joined a growing roster of Visa payWave™ contactless payment enabled merchants across Canada. Drivers in Toronto will now be able to simply "wave and go" when parking in one of 11,600 parking spaces in the city.
August 25, 2011---Redknee, a leading provider of business-critical billing and charging software and solutions for communications service providers, is pleased to announce that a leading regional U.S. wireless operator has selected Redknee's converged billing solution to replace its legacy solution in order to drive subscriber acquisition, increase revenues and improve profitability.
August 25, 2011---The Reynolds and Reynolds Company today announced that Kia Canada Inc. has named Reynolds as a Certified Dealership Management System (DMS) Provider for Kia dealerships in Canada.
August 18, 2011---Marking the first anniversary of the implementation of the Credit Card/Debit Card Code of Conduct, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) today released a report celebrating the many substantial accomplishments of the Code, as well as noting areas for further improvement.
August 17, 2011---Marking the first anniversary of the implementation of the Credit Card/Debit Card Code of Conduct, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) today released a report celebrating the many substantial accomplishments of the Code, as well as noting areas for further improvement.
August 15, 2011--March Networks, a global provider of intelligent IP video solutions, announced that it is the number one supplier of video surveillance equipment in the Americas banking market as ranked by IMS Research in its report "Vertical Insights: Video Surveillance and Security in Banking and Finance - 2011 Edition".
August 15, 2011--TD Bank Group and Bank of America Corporation announced a definitive agreement under which TD will purchase MBNA Canada's credit card portfolio, as well as certain other assets and liabilities. TD will pay a modest premium on an expected $8.5 billion of credit card receivables at closing.
"We are very pleased to be acquiring MBNA Canada's credit card business. This acquisition will position TD as a top card issuer in Canada," said Ed Clark, Group President and CEO, TD Bank Group.
August 3, 2011--comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, announced the comScore Canadian Online Banking Insights report, providing a detailed look into emerging trends in the Canadian online banking industry. Based on comScore's opt-in research panel of approximately 40,000 Canadian Internet users, the detailed quarterly reports include web site visitation, online marketing metrics, transaction benchmarks and mobile banking data that yield critical insights into emerging trends and consumer behavior in the Canadian online banking industry.
July 28, 2011 -- Ceridian Canada Ltd., a leading human capital management and payment solutions provider, launched the Powerpay Web Mobile app for BlackBerry users earlier this month. iPhone and iPad users can now download this app from iTunes for a one-time only download fee of $6.99.
July 28, 2011 -- VendTek Systems Inc., a developer and licensor of software for the global prepaid and financial services markets, is pleased to announce that the Company has partnered with UseMyServices, Inc. to distribute 3V Visa prepaid vouchers and Ukash vouchers online through www.UseMyCard.com. 3V Visa prepaid vouchers are issued by Peoples Trust pursuant to a license by Visa.
July 26, 2011 -- In an era when mobile devices are commonplace, Entrust, Inc., introduces a straightforward method for adding digital certificates to mobile devices -- and with little management from IT staff. Through Entrust's self-service module, end-users add certificates to their own mobile devices via an easy-to-use interface for advanced certificate-based authentication.
July 19, 2011 -- Admeris is pleased to announce that daily deals leader PriceDodger.com has selected Admeris' intelligently designed secure OneTouch mobile payment platform to increase sales conversions for its time-sensitive merchant offers through smartphones.
July 19, 2011 -- Construction officially began today to prepare for the installation of the first transit faregates at the Commercial-Broadway SkyTrain station. Once in full operation, the faregates will make taking transit safer and easier for people travelling on the entire transit system in Metro Vancouver.
July 15, 2011 -- Designing bank notes is a process that never really ends. As the Bank of Canada launches its new series of polymer notes, thought is already being given to the series that will follow.
July 14, 2011 -- Rexall, part of Katz Group Canada Ltd., has become a Visa payWave™ contactless payment enabled merchant. Shoppers will now be able to simply "wave and go" when making everyday purchases at all Rexall and Rexall Pharma Plus locations, plus participating Guardian and I.D.A. pharmacies.
"At Rexall, it is important to us to introduce new products and services that make the shopping experience better," said Michelle Lee, Director, Corporate Relations, Rexall Pharma Plus . "Visa payWave makes it easier and faster to shop at Rexall and our customers appreciate the added convenience."
July 6, 2011 -- Ceridian Canada Ltd., a leading human capital management and payment solutions provider announced the launch of Canada's first mobile payroll app.
Powerpay Web is Ceridian's flexible payroll solution that that enables small businesses to process their payroll online. The PowerPay Web Mobile app gives Ceridian Powerpay Web clients the ability to review and then submit their payroll figures directly from their smartphone - from any location and at any time.
June 28, 2011 -- New market research conducted on behalf of PayPal Canada by Leger Marketing shows that 56 percent of Canadians are comfortable with never having to handle cash to make a purchase and many would prefer the use of a digital wallet to give money to others or pay for items when shopping. PayPal accounts have always provided digital wallet functionality. PayPal is Canada's most trusted digital wallet and provides its more than four million Canadian customers the ability to pay and get paid using their bank account, credit cards or PayPal balance from their computer, smartphone or virtually any Internet-connected device.
June 28, 2011 -- The Mobile Giving Foundation Canada (MGFC), in collaboration with the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA), is pleased to announce a new partnership with Videotron that will offer customers of the wireless carrier the opportunity to support registered charities through text-to-donate initiatives. Videotron customers can now respond to a registered charity's call-to-action by texting a specific keyword to an assigned five-digit number to donate either $5 or $10, depending on the type of campaign.
June 23, 2011 -- Indigo Books & Music Inc, Canada's largest book retailer, announced today a partnership with MasterCard Canada to roll out the acceptance of MasterCard PayPass contactless payment technology to all store locations across the country.
June 21, 2011 -- Visa Canada announced today it is partnering with members of the ATM industry to increase Visa acceptance at privately owned ATMs in Canada, giving foreign visitors fast and easy access to cash when visiting Canada. When the Visa brand mark is displayed on an ATM, Visa cardholders know they can access cash quickly, conveniently and securely.
June 21, 2011 -- Posera-HDX Inc.has signed a letter of intent to acquire the payment switch company, Cash 'N Go Ltd. of Edmonton, Alberta for $450,000 subject to closing adjustments. The purchase price will be satisfied by the issuance of 1,000,000 Posera-HDX common shares at $0.45 cents, which will be subject to a 24 month hold period. No financing is required for this transaction and the parties to the transaction are at arm's length. HDX is listed on the TSX under the symbol "HDX".
June 17, 2011 -- Payfirma Corporation is proud to announce the signing of an exclusive contract with Sutton Group – West Coast Realty, Canada’s largest real estate brokerage firm with over $8.4 billion in transactions in 2010 and 1,700 REALTORS® and growing.
June 16, 2011 -- Scotiabank's Canadian mobile banking service has won the 2011 Celent Model Bank Award, for innovative and effective technology usage in banking. Celent is a research and consulting firm focused on the application of information technology in the global financial services industry.
May 26, 2011--Google, Citi, MasterCard, First Data and Sprint announced and demonstrated Google Wallet, an app that will make your phone your wallet so you can tap, pay and save money and time while you shop. For businesses, Google Wallet is an opportunity to strengthen customer relationships by offering a faster, easier shopping experience with relevant deals, promotions and loyalty rewards.
May 11, 2011 --Visa Inc, a global leader in electronic payments, today announced the next generation of payments solutions that will replicate the ease, reliability and security of Visa point-of-sale payments within traditional and digital eCommerce, mobile commerce and burgeoning social networking commerce environments. New offerings are expected to include a secure cross-channel digital wallet and a range of customized mobile payments services that address the specific requirements of geographic markets around the world.
May 4, 2011 --The 4th Annual Gift & Prepaid Retreat will see the Canadian prepaid business community come together to share best practice, learn of current and future market developments and take advantage of the explosion of interest surrounding this payment mechanism in Canada.
Hosted by Global Prepaid Exchange and ACT Canada alongside Cardware 2011, the 4th edition Gift and Prepaid Retreat North America – will take place on June 15th-16th. The event has been designed to support the development of prepaid in Canada by informing those already operating or looking to do so of the key drivers of prepaid and by offering guidance on how the Canadian market is likely to evolve.
April 29, 2011 --comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its annual Online Credit Card Report, which provides a comprehensive look at the online credit card industry over the past year. The report focuses on shifts in the industry related to improving consumer perceptions of the economic environment, card features most likely to influence card shopping decisions, and the growing importance of online servicing for issuers.
April 27, 2011--Amex Bank of Canada makes a major play in the Canadian business-to-business payments space with the launch of Buyer Initiated Payments (BIP), an automated web-based payments solution that takes paper cheques out of the payment process, helps improve a client's working capital, reduces liquidity risk and offers early payment to suppliers without affecting the buyer's cash position.
April 14, 2011 --On the eve of the one-year anniversary of Finance Canada's introduction of the Code of Conduct for Credit and Debit Card Industry in Canada, Retail Council of Canada (RCC) released its report card on credit and debit card industry practices.
April 13, 2011 --Pivotal Payments, a leading provider of merchant services, today announces that it is launching its enhanced processing and reporting platform called HD3. As one of the top merchant providers in North America, Pivotal Payments has now positioned itself to be a consummate merchant payment processor. By eliminating the middle-man, HD3 will allow Pivotal Payments to further tailor their merchant services to meet the needs of their partners and clients with real-time access to data, resulting in faster client care response and rapid problem resolution, along with tougher fraud protection measures.
April 13, 2011 --Payfone, a leading provider of mobile payments, today announced the closing of its $19 million strategic funding round, making it one of the largest mobile payments funding rounds to date. American Express is the largest strategic investor in this round of funding, with additional investment from Verizon Investments Inc. (assisted by Verizon Ventures), Rogers Ventures and from existing investors Opus Capital, BlackBerry Partners Fund and RRE Ventures. Payfone's new funds will be used to continue innovations in its market approach and to support its global expansion across North America, EMEA, Latin America and Asia.
March 31, 2011 --FeeFighters, a free online comparison shopping engine that offers businesses a head-to-head comparison of credit card processors and their fees, has expanded into Canada. The free comparison site helps merchants compare rates, contract terms and other costs to find the best deals on credit card processing fees.
The debate over contracts and fees has reached a high pitch in Canada, where merchants sometimes struggle to make sense of their choices while also trying to run their business.
March 27, 2010 --The Bank of Canada announced that it will begin circulating a new $100 polymer bank note in November 2011, with a polymer $50 note to follow in March 2012. The Bank also provided further technical and background information about the new bank notes. More details on the security features, themes and designs of these denominations will be unveiled in the spring of 2011. The remaining denominations—the $20 note, followed by the $10 and $5 notes—will be unveiled and issued by the end of 2013.
March 25, 2011 --Scotiabank is inviting Visa cardholders to 'wave and go' when making everyday purchases by adding Visa payWave™, a contactless payment feature, to its line of credit cards. Visa payWave transactions make small purchases faster and easier, reducing the amount of time customers spend at the checkout. Visa payWave is a no-fee enhancement which is now available on select Scotiabank credit cards, including ScotiaGold Passport Visa, Scotia Momentum Visa and SCENE Visa.
March 25, 2011 --Visa Canada, together with Great-West Life, a leading Canadian group benefits provider, announced a new Visa-branded employee benefits payment card. The card will reduce the need for Great-West Life group plan members to pay out-of-pocket for health services and supplies covered by their benefits plan.
March 24, 2011--Many of the world's leading operators, including América Móvil, Axiata Group Berhad, Bharti, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, KT Corporation, MTS, Orange, Qtel Group, SK Telecom, SOFTBANK MOBILE, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telekom Austria Group, Telenor and Vodafone, have voiced their commitment to implementing Near Field Communications (NFC) technology, and intend to launch commercial NFC services in select markets by 2012.
March 9, 2011 --Consumers want retailers to remember their preferred payment methods, just one of many trends uncovered in an annual IBM global survey of 30,000 consumers in 13 countries, including more than 2,000 Canadians. The survey also reveals consumers want a personalized shopping experience and will spend more and be more loyal to retailers who offer them quality, service and promotions on items they regularly buy.
February 14, 2010--In Serbia, mobile network operator Telenor has introduced a new payment service called PlatiMo, which for the first time allows customers to pay their bills and perform other financial services via their mobile phones directly from their bank accounts.
February 10, 2011--American Express Canada has a new online foreign exchange payment solution for Canadian businesses. American Express FX International Payments (FXIP) allows clients to make foreign currency transactions at competitive rates and with the convenience, security and control of 24/7 online service.
February 10, 2011--Credit card transactions are now even more secure thanks to the latest technology developed by Desjardins. End-to-end data encryption completely eliminates exposure of card numbers at points of sale during the payment process. This is a first in Canada.
With the participation of Ingenico, a major player in the global payment industry, Desjardins has developed a payment solution that encrypts credit card data throughout the entire transaction. This new technology will make it easier for retailers to comply with Payment Card Industry-Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS), under which strict security measures must be implemented at points of sale to protect credit card data exposure during the payment process.
February 1, 2010--MasterCard Canada has added CIBC as a new Canadian issuer of PayPass-enabled MasterCard credit cards. More than 19 million MasterCard credit cards in Canada feature PayPass™ contactless payments technology.
CIBC is now issuing three new MasterCard PayPass-enabled credit cards, including the CIBC Aventura World MasterCard, the CIBC Dividend Unlimited World MasterCard and the CIBC Aventura MasterCard.
December 15, 2010--The Competition Bureau announced that it has filed an application with the Competition Tribunal, to "strike down restrictive and anti-competitive rules that Visa and MasterCard impose on merchants who accept their credit cards". The Commissioner of Competition alleges that these rules have effectively eliminated competition between Visa and MasterCard for merchants' acceptance of their credit cards, resulting in increased costs to businesses and, ultimately, consumers. Merchants in Canada pay an estimated $5 billion annually in credit card fees. Read the article
December 16, 2010--The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) welcomes the Competition Bureau's application with the Competition Tribunal to strike down Visa and MasterCard rules imposed on Canadian merchants. CFIB first proposed a Code of Conduct for the credit and debit card industry in Canada to give merchants more power in their relationship with credit card companies and banks. Government ultimately adopted most of CFIB's recommendations in its Code which went into effect in August 2010.Read the article (reaction from Visa, MasterCard, and others)
December 8, 2010--The performance of Canadian credit card debt continued to improve in the third quarter of 2010, as the charge-off rate index pulled back to 3.97%, almost a percentage point below its record high of 4.92% in third quarter 2009, Moody's Investors Service says in its latest Credit Card Indices for Canada. During the third quarter the charge-off rate dropped sharply from 4.61% the previous quarter. Read the article
November 29, 2010 --A year after the transposition of the PSD and implementation of SEPA, European payments professionals are overwhelmingly disappointed with the progress in harmonising and regulating an integrated European payments market. Meanwhile, new competitors are registering rapidly as new payments institutions and are creating major challenges for traditional banks. Read the article
November 29, 2010--A new era is dawning for banks, says Giesecke & Devrient. The Convego Service Online Portal from G&D enables banks to provide a better debit and credit card service to their customers. Financial institutions can use the online platform to check the processing status of cards, ascertain the current stock position and actively control production processes (e.g. canceling cards) quickly and simply at any time. Read the article
November 24, 2010 --One of Canada's biggest closed doors for debit payments swung open this week. When customers head to a restaurant counter or pull up to the drive-thru window at their local Tim Hortons, they can now pay with their Interac Debit card, through Chase Paymentech's proprietary payment processing platform. Tim Hortons, one of Canada's largest consumer brands, currently offers customers MasterCard credit card and MasterCard PayPass card options, and now Chase Paymentech has extended their Tim Hortons partnership to include the ability for customer's to pay by debit at the majority of Tim Hortons' restaurants nationwide. Read the article
November 22, 2010 --First Data Corporation, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment processing and HMV, Canada's leading entertainment retailer, says HMV has launched its “purehmv” customer loyalty programme using First Data’s Real-Time Rewards solution. More than 310,000 consumers have joined the loyalty programme in its first four months. Read the article
November 17, 2010--Fundtech Ltd, a NASDAQ-listed developer of transactional banking software, has launched Mobile ACCESSplus, a mobile platform designed specifically for corporate electronic banking. George Ravich, Fundtech’s Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, tells Canadian Treasurer that the platform currently works with Blackberrry and Apple wireless devices as well as devices running the Android and Microsoft mobile operating systems. Read the story
November 16, 2010 --Interac Association says Scotiabank and RBC will be the first banks to add Interac Flash, the new contactless enhancement of Interac Debit and Canada's first contactless debit payment option, to their customers' bank cards in summer 2011. Interac Flash gives cardholders the choice of paying for smaller value items faster than ever before by simply 'flashing' an Interac chip debit card at a reader that supports Interac Flash, rather than inserting the card and entering a PIN. This increased speed helps merchants improve customer throughput at point-of-sale by spending less time processing payments, particularly handling cash. Read the story
November 8, 2010--CIBC has become the first bank in Canada to launch a Visa-branded debit card. The CIBC Advantage card, which is co-branded as Interac and Visa, is already available in CIBC bank branches, Mike Bradley, Visa Canada`s head of products, tells Payments Business. However, the launch of the card has stirred controversy, as according to the Toronto Star, some big Canadian merchants have been processing it as a Visa credit card. Read the article
November 4, 2010--For routing banking transactions, Canadian consumers’ preferred financial channel is the Internet. But customers vastly prefer to be able to talk to someone, preferably at a branch, when they have a problem with their accounts or if they need to make a major transaction, according to research by Mississauga, Ontario-based Empathica. Read the story
October 21, 2010--Technological advances, regulatory changes and blurring lines between professional and personal lifestyles will significantly shape the financial services industry’s landscape throughout the next decade. Verizon has identified 10 emerging trends that are key factors in this transformation, and that will create an even stronger focus on advanced security measures within the industry.
The industry perspective, “Top Ten Trends of the Decade in Financial Services,” written by Chandan Sharma, global managing director of Verizon Business’ financial services practice, identifies the trends that will likely reshape the way financial services firms conduct business in the future. Read the article
October 15, 2010--Lévis, Québec-based Desjardins Group has launched a set of mobile banking and insurance services for smartphone and PDA users. While Desjardins is providing a mobile banking application for Apple iPhone users to download, it says the new services can be used on any web-connected mobile device including as well as on Android-based phones, the iPod Touch and the BlackBerry. Read the article
October 14, 2010--Montreal, Quebec-based Xsilva Systems has launched LightSpeed Mobile, a wireless version of its Apple Mac-basd LightSpeed point-of-sale system.
LightSpeed Mobile enables retail staff to take customer orders within a store and accept credit card payment by using a specially-adapted Apple iPod Touch. “The solution will also work with an iPhone,” Dax Dasilva, founder and CEO of Xsilva Systems, tells Payments Business. “But from a security viewpoint, it’s better to use an iPod Touch, simply because the only network capability it has is Wi-Fi. By contrast, an iPhone is a 3G phone that can connect to any mobile data network, which poses a greater risk.” Read the article
October 14, 2010--Datatel Inc., a leader in hosted Interactive Voice Response (IVR) solutions, has partnered with Trustwave to provide Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance validation solutions for its call center clients. Trustwave is a leading provider of PCI DSS compliance solutions that service providers of all industries can offer to their clients.
PCI DSS is a requirement for all entities that store, process, or transmit cardholder data and has been endorsed by all of the major card brands, including Visa Inc., MasterCard Worldwide, Discover Network, American Express, and JCB. Read the article
Canadian grocery store chain Sobeys has appointed BMO Bank of Montreal as its retail financial services partner, replacing an earlier relationship with Citi. As part of the deal, Sobeys and BMO have launched two co-branded rewards-based MasterCard credit cards, one in Atlantic Canada and the other in Ontario and Western Canada. A third co-branded Air Miles MasterCard will be launched in October in Quebec, David Heatherly, BMO’s VP payments products, personal and small business, tells Payments Business. Read the article.
Canadian grocery store chain Sobeys has appointed BMO Bank of Montreal as its retail financial services partner, replacing an earlier relationship with Citi. As part of the deal, Sobeys and BMO have launched two co-branded rewards-based MasterCard credit cards, one in Atlantic Canada and the other in Ontario and Western Canada. A third co-branded Air Miles MasterCard will be launched in October in Quebec, David Heatherly, BMO’s VP payments products, personal and small business, tells Payments Business. 
