Lessons Highlighted at Open Banking Expo Canada 2025:

Lessons Highlighted at Open Banking Expo Canada 2025:

In a significant stride towards modernizing Canada's payment infrastructure, the Real-Time Rail (RTR) and Open Banking initiatives are progressing, poised to make payments faster, safer, and more integrated with financial management systems.

Mike Cascone, Vice President of Government Experience Americas at Xero, recently led a discussion about how the rollout of Open Banking could directly address challenges faced by small businesses. The importance of these initiatives for small businesses was further emphasized by Brian Harris, CEO of Beem Credit Union, who stated, "People do not ask for Open Data, Open Finance, or Open Banking; they seek trust, security, and solutions to their problems."

The current status of the Real-Time Rail (RTR) in Canada is that Payments Canada is in the advanced stages of preparing its launch. A public consultation period on the RTR legal framework is open from May 20 to July 2, 2025. The RTR will enable payments to settle in seconds, carry rich data (supporting ISO 20022 messaging standards), and eventually support QR-code payment requests and cross-border real-time payment links. This marks a significant upgrade from Canada's legacy wire system towards a modernized payment infrastructure.

Regarding innovation impact, the RTR is expected to transform corporate treasury operations by enabling faster payment settlement and richer data availability, which can automate reconciliation and liquidity management processes, thereby reducing manual work and enhancing strategic financial management capabilities. Early adopters are already leveraging the data-rich messages to streamline invoice matching and payment processing, signaling a shift to more automated, efficient financial workflows in business payments.

While the current status of Open Banking in Canada is yet to be fully detailed, it is known that Open Banking initiatives in Canada are progressing with regulatory frameworks being developed to allow secure sharing of financial data with third-party providers, fostering competition and innovation in payments and financial services. The RTR and Open Banking are complementary: RTR focuses on infrastructure for real-time payments, while Open Banking enables ecosystem participants to innovate on customer-facing services using shared data.

Bhavna Kaushal, Principal Consultant at BK Advisory, defined Pay by Bank as account-to-account payments without using traditional card rails. Vlad Cazan, Chief Technology Officer at Paybilt, highlighted payroll as a key use case for real-time payments and Open Banking in Canada. Shruti Awasthi, Director, Open Banking Strategy at CIBC, emphasized the potential value of Pay by Bank for small businesses and sole proprietors.

Michelle Beyo, Founder and CEO of Finavator, suggested that the term "consumer-driven banking" can exclude small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the conversation and called for thinking beyond the name. Carrie Forbes, Founder and CEO of Rockstar Advisory, identified collaboration as the common thread for both Open Banking and transformation, stating it is critical to creating a successful ecosystem.

In conclusion, these initiatives are poised to significantly enhance Canada's payment ecosystem by making payments faster, safer, more data-rich, and more integrated with financial management systems, thus driving innovation in how payments are initiated, processed, and reconciled. Forbes further stated that the future for success lies with organizations that master collaboration. As these initiatives continue to progress, Canada's payment landscape is set to undergo a transformative shift, benefiting businesses and consumers alike.

[1] Payments Canada. (2023). Real-Time Rail. Retrieved from https://www.payments.ca/our-work/real-time-rail [2] Payments Canada. (2023). Real-Time Rail: Impact on Payments Innovation. Retrieved from https://www.payments.ca/our-work/real-time-rail/impact-on-payments-innovation

1. The rollout of Open Banking, as discussed by Mike Cascone, could address challenges faced by small businesses by promoting trust, security, and solutions to their problems.
2. The advancement of the Real-Time Rail (RTR) in Canada, as highlighted by Payments Canada, will enable payments to settle in seconds, carry rich data, and support QR-code payment requests and cross-border real-time payment links.
3. Innovation impact on the RTR is expected to automate reconciliation and liquidity management processes, thereby reducing manual work and enhancing strategic financial management capabilities.
4. The Open Banking initiatives in Canada are progressing with regulatory frameworks being developed to foster competition and innovation in payments and financial services.
5. Bhavna Kaushal defined Pay by Bank as account-to-account payments without using traditional card rails, while Vlad Cazan identified payroll as a key use case for real-time payments and Open Banking in Canada.
6. Shruti Awasthi emphasized the potential value of Pay by Bank for small businesses and sole proprietors, while Michelle Beyo called for thinking beyond the term "consumer-driven banking" to include small and medium enterprises.
7. Collaboration, as identified by Carrie Forbes, is critical for both Open Banking and payment transformation, and is essential for creating a successful ecosystem in the evolving payment landscape.

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