Spring 2024 Edition — Symposium 2024; RPAA Updates; Prepaid Voices; Industry Events

The CPPO is gearing up for our annual signature event, The CPPO Prepaid Symposium on April 18 in Toronto.

This year's theme, The Promise of Payment Innovation will examine the critical role prepaid has played in achieving the vision for payments innovation and view how it has lived up to its promises through the lens of the critical stakeholders: consumers, SMBs, merchants, neobanks, banks and fintechs.

Spots are limited. Are you joining us? Register here today.

Among the topics we'll be discussing is Canada’s inability to enact an open banking framework, slowing that innovation and limiting the ability of new fintech offerings to take hold and expand.

We'll discuss how prepaid has filled the gaps and provided the critical platform for innovation for many significant improvements in payments convenience, value and inclusivity for consumers, SMBs and governments. We'll also answer the key questions: has it been enough to say that payments innovation has lived up to its promises? And what is next for this critical sector?

Payments Regulatory Updates: What You Need to Know about the RPAA

What else is going on in the Canadian payments market? Below is details on one of the top issues the CPPO's government relations team at PAA Advisory | Conseils has been following.

Retail Payments Activities Act (RPAA)

The CPPO continues to be active on Canada’s RPAA and its associated compliance framework, which regulates Payment Services Providers (PSPs) operating in Canada.

In February, The Bank of Canada issued draft supervisory guidelines on PSPs’ obligations under the regime and launched a consultation for feedback. The consultation covers the following guidelines:?

• Operational risk and incident response: Provides clarification on how PSPs establish, implement and maintain a risk management and incident response framework to identify and mitigate operational risks and respond to incidents. It indicates that the expectation is for PSPs to tailor their frameworks to their own circumstances and ensures that the framework is commensurate to the materiality of the risks being faced.
• Incident notification: Explains the requirements on incident reporting and provides clarity on how the Bank expects PSPs to comply with those regulatory requirements.
• Safeguarding end-user funds: Lays out the requirements for PSPs holding end user funds. Among other things, it clarifies that a PSP is only holding funds when the funds are at rest and the PSP is awaiting further instruction from the end user to immediately transfer or withdraw the funds.
• Notice of significant change or new activity: Sets out the Bank’s expectations for registered PSPs to meet the notification requirements set out in section 22 of the RPAA and section 20 of the Retail Payment Activities Regulations (RPAR).

PSPs will need to register with the Bank of Canada in Fall 2024 and be ready to comply with the regime’s requirements in Fall 2025. CPPO legal advisory group, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP has shared guidance on the Retail Payments Activity Act (RPAA).

What is the CPPO doing:

The CPPO met?with representatives from the Bank of Canada regarding the consultation and has prepared written responses to high priority issues raised in the consultations, including on the safeguarding of end user funds provisions.

The CPPO has also established a working group to assist with the organization’s response to the RPAA. Please contact us if you would like to participate in the working group. The CPPO welcomes input on concerns with the Bank’s guidance.

Do you have questions?

PSPs have until May 21, 2024, to submit their comments. If you are interested in learning more about how the RPAA impacts open loop prepaid payments providers, please reach out to learn more on how the CPPO is responding to the consultation and advocating on behalf of Canada’s prepaid industry.

Voices from Across the Industry

What use cases are propelling this market forward? REV Prepaid Chief Revenue Officer Sara Mackay Smith answered 5 key questions about the market, including what's next for prepaid's development. Read more.

H&R Block's James Klassen answered 5 key questions about the Canadian prepaid market, including what he thinks is driving growth and what's on the horizon for the industry. Read more.

Mydoh's Arvind Agarwal answered 4 key questions about the Canadian prepaid market, including what he thinks is fueling the market's growth and how to?navigate today's regulatory climate. Read more.

Fintech.ca sat down with CPPO Executive Director Jennifer Tramontana to learn about prepaid innovation, how the industry has changed, what’s driving prepaid’s popularity and what can be improved in the industry. Catch the interview.

Upcoming Industry Events

Join CPPO board members Arvind Agarwal Jeremy Bornstein Maria Riesenberg and Jennifer Tramontana at The Payments Canada SUMMIT?for a discussion on how Canadian innovators are utilizing prepaid platforms and bank partnerships to get to market faster and accelerate digital banking and payment innovations.

The SUMMIT is where the best minds in payments join to connect and collaborate. Join in Toronto or virtually from May 29 to 31 at The Payments Canada SUMMIT . There are many exciting updates and announcements on the horizon. Learn more.

Open Banking Expo is a global community of Open Banking and Open Finance executives responsible for digital transformation across the financial services sector. The event comes to Toronto on June 11. Learn more.

The Innovative Payments Association 's Innovative Payments Conference on May 5-7 in Washington, DC is the must-attend annual event for the payments community attracting the attention and support of the industry’s most influential players. Learn more.

The Canada FinTech Forum on Sept 10-11 in Montreal by Finance Montréal is a landmark international gathering that aims to showcase emerging global trends in FinTech, new technology solutions for the financial industry and emerging FinTech start-ups. Learn more.