Interac® Payment Innovation Accelerating Growth of Digital Payments in Canada

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Feb 22, 2016, 06:00 ET

TORONTO, Feb. 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ - Coinciding with the Mobile World Congress 2016, Interac Association/Acxsys Corporation ("Interac") has introduced enhanced innovative capabilities that are setting the standard for secure debit payments and accelerating the growth of digital payments in Canada.

A key development is the Interac Token Service Provider (TSP), which is among the first for a domestic debit network globally. This proprietary token generation and management service enables financial institutions, merchants and our partners to innovate, build and manage secure digital payment experiences.

"The Interac TSP is core to our digital strategy and solidifies our position as a driver of innovation and champion of secure debit payments," said Mark O'Connell, President and CEO, Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation. "It offers the security and customization that our consumers and clients demand with the capability for tokenized digital debit transactions on any device or mobile wallet that supports it."

"Extending our strong value proposition to digital payments is a given," said Avinash Chidambaram, Vice President, Product and Platform Development, Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation. "Canadian consumers use us more than any other payment brand and acceptance is nearly ubiquitous at merchants from coast to coast because of the benefits we provide to them."

The Interac TSP was developed in collaboration with IBM, a world leader in mobile and cloud computing, Bell ID, a global provider of tokenization software for mobile payments, and Everlink, a provider of comprehensive, innovative and integrated payment solutions and services. Leveraging this suite of innovative solutions, the Interac TSP is capable of supporting financial institutions and mobile technology providers with secure digital products at scale.

"Canadian consumers have always been eager to adopt new mobile technologies, and we see a very strong interest for mobile wallets," said Alon Kronenberg, an IBM executive specializing in mobile technologies. "The Interac TSP, underpinned by IBM's secure cloud infrastructure and implementation services, is a key building block to enable financial institutions to more easily offer mobile wallet capabilities to their clients. We are enthusiastic about the impact tokenization solutions, such as this collaboration with Interac and Bell ID, will have to drive wide adoption of secure digital payments, not just in Canada but around the world."

"Bell ID is excited to partner with Interac and contribute further to the advancement of mobile payments in Canada," commented David Orme, CEO, Bell ID. "We have a long history in enabling Canadian card and mobile payments and Interac can now support the market with secure tokenization services for a wide array of mobile payment deployment options."

"Everlink is proud to partner with Interac in the provision of secure tokenization gateway services, enabling mobile debit payments in Canada," said Mark Ripplinger, President and CEO, Everlink Payment Services.

Interac, a member of the FinTech Cluster at MaRS Discovery District, is shaping the future of digital debit payments in Canada. This Interac TSP development follows another innovation milestone for the Interac product suite: the extension of the Interac e-Transfer^® platform to include bulk disbursement service. This enhanced service gives commercial banking customers a fast, streamlined, secure, and cost-effective digital alternative to cheques and prepaid card disbursements, without the need to collect personal financial bank account information.

Interac is a unique and trusted Canadian entity with a rich understanding of our payments landscape and its players. Interac products are specifically designed to meet the needs of Canadians and their growing demand for increased innovation, improved user experiences, and greater convenience. Security is foundational for these solutions, with Interac having a global leading track record at payment fraud mitigation across its product suite.

The concept of substituting consumers' financial information with a "token" has been integral to the security of Interac products. For example, Interac debit cards feature an identifier (not an account number) on the front of the cards, Interac Online uses a one time identifier to complete a transaction, and the Interac e-Transfer service requires only an email or a mobile phone number to send money – no account information is shared between senders and recipients.

"Having our own TSP is a natural evolution of our strong security value proposition," said Chidambaram. "As the digital landscape evolves and grows, we will continue to transform our payment solutions to ensure consumers and merchants can continue relying on Interac products now – and well into the future."

About the Interac TSP

Key features and benefits include:

Security features that align with global mobile industry standards. Tokenization substitutes consumer's financial information with a secure token, which consists of a unique, randomly generated sequence of numbers. This token, which is meaningless to unauthorized parties, can only be used on the consumer's mobile device.
Freedom for consumers to make purchases whenever, wherever and however they want. The Interac TSP represents an 'open' mobile debit payment solution with device-agnostic technology that can be implemented on any mobile device that supports it.
Seamless integration with payment partners. Financial institutions, mobile technology providers and merchants can use the Interac TSP to innovate, build and manage secure digital payment experiences. The platform is built to scale and allows for continued innovation.
A trusted payment choice for all stakeholders within the payments chain. Transactions through the Interac TSP use the existing functionality and security of Interac Flash contactless debit technology. It offers strong consumer protections such as protective passcode verification and zero customer liability. Merchants benefit from real-time transactions: payment is received immediately and chargebacks never occur. It is also one of the lowest-cost payment acceptance options for merchants.

Visit www.interac.ca/digitalpayments.

About Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation

Interac is Canada's leading payment brand. Together, Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation operate an economical, world-class debit system with broad-based acceptance, 24/7 reliability, security and efficiency. The brand is chosen an average of 12 million times daily to pay and exchange money. Interac products and services securely connect people to their money at the ABM through Interac Cash, at retailers across Canada through Interac Debit and the US, and online through web based services – Interac Online for online purchases, Interac e-Transfer for person-to-person payments, and Interac e-Transfer bulk disbursement for commercial payments. In addition, Interac Flash^®, the secure contactless enhancement of Interac Debit, is in widespread use at retailers across Canada and provides the service for mobile NFC proximity payments. The organization is also a leader in the prevention and detection of fraud.