Understanding Real-Time Payments in Canada

Understanding real-time payments in Canada means looking at how systems such as Interac e‑Transfer work today and how the upcoming Real-Time Rail (RTR) will transform instant money movement in the next few years. These changes will affect how consumers, businesses, and financial institutions send, receive, and reconcile payments across the country.​

What are real-time payments?

Real-time payments are electronic transfers where money moves between bank accounts within seconds, with irrevocable settlement and immediate confirmation for both sender and receiver. Unlike traditional bank transfers, real-time payments run 24/7/365 and are designed to be always available.​

Key rails in Canada

Canada’s current real-time experience is largely powered by Interac e‑Transfer®, which lets people and businesses send money in near real time using just an email address or mobile number. The upcoming Real-Time Rail (RTR), being delivered by Payments Canada, is being built to support instant, account‑to‑account transfers for almost all Canadian deposit accounts.​

Interac e‑Transfer today

Interac e‑Transfer is widely integrated into Canadian banking apps, works with a lot of financial institutions, and typically settles transfers in seconds, including evenings and weekends. For businesses, Interac e‑Transfer for Business supports real-time disbursements such as payroll, refunds, and supplier payments, often at lower cost and with simpler routing than traditional EFT or wire payments.​

The coming Real-Time Rail (RTR)

The RTR is Canada’s first national instant payment system, built to exchange, clear, and settle irrevocable payments in real time. The technical build is scheduled to be completed in late 2025, followed by industry testing, with launch expected after 2026, and it is based on ISO 20022 messaging, so payments can carry rich, structured data such as invoice details.​

Why RTR matters for businesses and consumers

For consumers, real-time payments will enable use cases such as just‑in‑time payroll, instant insurance payouts, and real‑time bill payments, improving cash flow and reducing reliance on cheques or long settlement card refunds. For businesses, RTR’s data‑rich messages and instant settlement can streamline reconciliation, reduce manual processes, and support new models such as account‑to‑account subscriptions and QR‑code requests for payment.​

Benefits of real-time payments

Key benefits include speed (funds in seconds), always‑on availability, improved cash flow visibility, and the ability to attach detailed remittance data for easier matching of payments to invoices. At the same time, irrevocability and always‑on access mean fraud management and strong authentication are critical; RTR is being designed to launch with integrated fraud controls to mitigate these risks.​​

How fintechs and businesses can prepare

Fintechs expanding into Canada increasingly treat Interac connectivity as mandatory, since customers expect instant CAD payouts and collections as a default experience. To prepare for RTR, payment service providers should focus on ISO 20022 readiness, real‑time fraud controls, API‑driven integration, and tools that can consume and leverage the richer data that will travel with each payment.