Interac Launches Business e-Transfers For Real-Time Payments

Canada-based Interac is collaborating with 13 financial institutions to introduce real-time electronic transfers (e-Transfers) to enable the transfer of business funds within seconds.

“The launch of Interac e-Transfer for Business in collaboration with Canada’s banking and credit union community marks a milestone in the modernization of Canadian payments and provides a timely solution as businesses embrace financial transformation to aid their recovery and growth plans,” William Keliehor, chief commercial officer at Interac, said in a press release. 

Keliehor added that the move aligns with the company’s drive to meet the escalating needs for “secure, data-rich, real-time business payments,” which was fueled in part by the COVID-19 pandemic that took hold last March. 

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A recent survey by Interac showed that some 83 percent of business leaders are looking to explore the latest commercial payment products as they continue to move forward toward a digital-first mindset post-pandemic.

Many businesses still use checks as a main source of payment — more than 389 million commercial checks were issued in 2019 at an estimated $9,000 each, the press release indicated, citing the 2019 Canadian Payments Methods and Trends Report.

Challenges presented by the pandemic have not caused businesses to become pessimistic about the future, Interac research shows. In fact, 82 percent of respondents are looking to expand over the next 24 months. Further, some 83 percent of survey respondents indicated that digital transformation is a priority, and 77 percent said they are looking to their finance teams to focus on “higher value-add functions.”

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“Fast, efficient payments are critical to the operational success of a business in a digital, always-on economy. By introducing greater speed, flexibility and valuable insights within the payments process, Interac e-Transfer for Business helps businesses optimize their cash flow, shift from expensive and time-intensive paper cheques and drastically simplifies the accounting reconciliation process for them,” said Ramesh Siromani, senior vice president of enterprise payments at RBC.