Payments Canada appoints Tata Consultancy Services as integration lead for new payment system
Ellie Duncan | News
06 Apr 2022
Payments Canada has selected Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as the integration lead for Canada’s real-time payment system, Real-Time Rail (RTR).
As integration lead, TCS will help to plan and coordinate activities with industry stakeholders to integrate the components of the RTR and the deployment of the new system.
It will also work with Interac, the RTR’s exchange provider, and Mastercard’s Vocalink, the clearing and settlement solution provider, to deliver the system in mid-2023.
John Cowan, chief technology and operations officer at Payments Canada, said that TCS’s three decades of experience in delivering market infrastructure solutions makes it a “valuable partner” in the delivery of the RTR.
“Testing and deployment is a critical step in the introduction of the new real-time payment system and we’re excited to work with TCS to execute on this next step for the RTR as we help shape the future of payments in Canada,” Cowan added.
When it launches, the RTR will be operated by Payments Canada and regulated by the Bank of Canada, allowing Canadians to initiate payments and receive funds “in seconds”.
It is part of Payments Canada’s multi-year industry program to modernise the payments system in Canada.
“We are excited to partner with Payments Canada to enable individuals and businesses with newer products and services through a contemporary payments capability,” said Manmeet Chhabra, business unit head for financial services at TCS in Canada.
“This reinforces our commitment to the Canadian market to bring our global expertise in diverse critical national infrastructure; propelling Canada in the journey of payments transformation and innovation.”
In 2021, Payments Canada’s systems cleared and settled more than $135 trillion, equating to over $539 billion every business day.
Payments Canada’s director of regulatory affairs, Brendan Carley, recently spoke on a panel at the Open Banking Expo Canada quarterly meetup about the appointment of the Open Banking lead.
