Canada’s Interac Eases P2P Payments And Teams With Samsung Pay for Mobile Debit

Interac, Canada’s debit network, has made it easier to digitally send money direct to another bank account through its e-Transfer service by eliminating the need for recipients to answer a security question each time a transfer is made. Answering a security question validates the recipient to whom the money is being sent.

By streamlining the sending of funds using e-Transfer, the network seeks to make it more convenient for consumers to use the service and also pave the way for more businesses, especially small and medium-size businesses, to use e-Transfer to pay invoices.

“Research not only revealed that consumers wanted an easier way to receive funds, but that answering a security question was a barrier for businesses and other volume users to using e-Transfer,” says Peter Maoloni, assistant vice president, online products and platforms, for Toronto-based Interac Association and its parent company, Acxsys Corp. “This gives Canadian consumers and businesses more flexibility, choice, and control when receiving money.”

To set up the auto-deposit feature, a consumer or business first logs into their financial institution’s online- or mobile-banking app and clicks on the autodeposit link, which is typically found in the Interac e-Transfer settings.

Next, the user registers his email address and selects the account into which any incoming e-Transfers are to be automatically deposited. As funds are deposited, the recipient receives an email notification.

The service can also be used to request money owed by sending a request for funds with the Interac e-Transfer Request Money feature. The process to request money is similar to sending it. After logging into e-Transfer through his online- or mobile-banking app, the recipient either enters the email address or mobile-phone number of the person or business being contacted or selects it from his contact list. Next, the recipient enters the amount of money being requested, selects the account he wants the money deposited to, and sends the request for payment, which can include a personalized message.

Upon receiving the request for payment through her online- or mobile-banking app, the payer clicks on “accept the request,” selects the bank from which she will send the funds and the account from which the funds will be drawn, and clicks on “send.” A message can be included with the transaction. Funds are deposited directly into the recipient’s designated bank account.

Consumers using e-Transfer can send money to or from 255 financial institutions in Canada, or more than 99% of the country’s banks and credit unions, according to Maoloni. Consumers can receive money from out-of-network financial institutions, but not send. The volume of out-of-network transactions is minuscule and diminishing, Maoloni says.

As the new features become more entrenched, Maoloni says Interac will look for ways to enhance the user experience and add more features around international remittance. “We are also looking at the possibility of establishing a connection with Zelle and even the automated clearing house in the United States,” he adds.

Zelle is a person-to-person payments service from bank-owned Early Warning Services LLC that enables individuals and businesses in the U.S. to electronically transfer money from their bank account to another person’s bank account using the recipient’s email address or phone number.

In related news, Interac has teamed with Samsung Canada to enable Interac Debit transactions on Samsung Pay in Canada using the Interac token-service provider (TSP).

The Interac TSP, which was developed in collaboration with Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Rambus Inc., a provider of digital security, semiconductor, and IP products and services, is a proprietary token-generation and management platform. Financial institutions, merchants, and other partners can use the platform to build and manage secure digital-payment programs.

“This collaboration is part of Interac’s ongoing efforts to progress mobile payments in Canada,” said Debbie Gamble, vice president of digital product and platforms for Interac Association and Acxsys. “Through our partnership with Rambus and Samsung, we are able to expand our TSP platform to more users, bringing Interac Debit on Samsung Pay to consumers in Canada.”