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At the executive insight event held in Toronto on Wednesday 6th of March 2024, we discussed the factors affecting the Canadian payments market. The panel included: Marc Trudeau, Senior Managing Consultant, Mastercard Advisors, Hugh Gallagher, CFO & Director at Edgar, Dunn & Company, William Kelihor, Keliehor Advisory International, Nabil Ibenbrahim, Managing Director, HPS and Sebastien Slim, Deputy Managing Director, HPS.
The morning was split into three distinct, key areas:
We started the discussion with some background context, about the Canadian payments market and the Canadian banks.
We also covered the consumer shift towards contactless and digital payments, and how that has led to an increased demand for more digital payment options and frictionless payment experiences. For the banks, that means being able to answer to this demand from a business perspective and with a technology partner that offers a fully digital payments experience.
The panel also discussed various experiences and examples around the world, and wondered if the Canadian market would benefit from more competition. In other regions, competitive landscapes have driven some major innovation, especially in the payments space.
Interchange fees were also a major talking point both globally and locally – it’s clear that downward pressure is going to be relentless from a regulatory standpoint.
The panel discussed the challenges for legacy payments systems who struggle to keep pace with this ever-evolving consumer demand for more digital engagement, streamlined payment options and touchless transactions.
The panel felt that the introduction of a new modern payments platform in Canada presented an interesting opportunity for banks that want to launch more digital options. The introduction of a new and modern platform is seen as an opportunity for a market in terms of consumer demand.
However, banks need to make sure they select the right partner to ensure they maximise the opportunity and minimise de risk. Maximising the opportunity means bringing new products and services quickly to the market. And minimising the risk is ensuring they select the right partner, with experience in modernization, with the right future-proof technology.
The final part of the panel session was spent discussing best practices from other markets where migration efforts have been successful with a focus on business models and key areas that banks and FIs can benefit. The panellists again agreed that flexibility and speed to market along with deployment of new services was at the heart of any migration effort.
We then concentrated on the benefits for Banks and FI’s at understanding another key driver – user demand – they want what they want, and they want it now! Users should also be at the centre of the migration plan for any part of the business as ultimately, they are going to drive the revenues of the service.
In 2023 HPS launched its new, cloud-native and cutting-edge digital payments platform in Canada, supported from its local Canadian office and Canadian cards processing centre.
With an extensive track record of successful partnerships with top-tier banks around the world today, HPS is an established payments specialist in over 90 countries.
