Canada's Real-Time Rail launches without any Big Six bank

Payments Canada, the national non-profit developing Canada’s instant payments system, said on November 9 that its Real-Time Rail (RTR) has launched. BetaKit reported that eight launch members are on it, including Toronto-based Wealthsimple and Koho and Questrade’s new banking entity, Questbank, but none of Canada’s Big Six banks.

Mike Katchen, chief executive of Wealthsimple, a Toronto money-management platform founded in 2014, said in Payments Canada’s release that the company is proud to be among the first institutions to join. Daniel Eberhard, chief executive of Koho, another Toronto fintech firm, was blunter about the missing banks, saying the rail would be largely “performative” without them.

But more participants are expected in the coming months, including all major Canadian financial institutions, The Canadian Press reported. The Department of Finance has the same aim: a spokesperson said it will work to have all major financial institutions in the rail by summer 2027.

Development of the rail began in 2015 with a 2019 target, so it arrives seven years late after repeated delays. Canada was the only G7 country without an instant payment rail, and Payments Canada says it is now the first to launch one with mandatory centralized fraud services.

Claire Célérier, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, said the open question is what fees retail banking customers may face for faster transfers.

Sources: Payments Canada · BetaKit · Wealthsimple · BNN Bloomberg