Vocalink, a Mastercard company, has been chosen to bring a faster payment system to Canada.
The FinTech Alliance company announced this week it was selected to handle settlement and clearing for Real-Time Rail, Canada’s new payments system which aims to allow transactions to take place in real time.
Payments Canada has been tasked by the Canadian government to take responsibility for the clearing and settlement infrastructure, processes and rules across the country. It says that thanks to Vocalink it can act as a “platform for innovation”, as payment information will be able to travel with every payment.
Michael Miebach, current President of Mastercard who is due to become CEO next year, says the move highlights the business’ recognition of payments as “critical national infrastructure”, which will form an important part of its business strategy moving forward.
Mastercard has always reflected its namesake is achieving excellence in card payments – but it also understands that other payment options such as mobile are becoming critical around the world, especially as contactless solutions have kicked into high gear amid Covid-19.
The new commitment is to connect payers and payees whether they’re using card, bank accounts, mobile wallets or any other method, and keeping this mindset will help Mastercard stay ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape.
In an interview with FinTech Alliance last year, Vocalink CEO Gregor Dobbie highlighted the importance of resilience for the company – without knowing that 2020 would be FinTech’s biggest resilience test yet. “If someone asked me ‘what keeps you awake at night?’ it’s that our services continue to operate at the highest standards and level that our economy requires them to,” said Dobbie. “We carry an enormous burden of responsibility because we play a critical role in people’s everyday lives.
“Therefore, I spend a considerable amount of time shepherding our innovation strategy to ensure the utmost resilience while also imagining and creating leading-edge new products and services that are relevant not only in the UK but also globally.”
He also commented on the UK’s place in the global FinTech ecosystem, and how our innovation and expertise can be brought to other countries across the globe. “There’s no doubt that the UK is the pioneer and leading innovator in the world of real-time payments. We have developed the technologies, nurtured the skillsets and trailblazed new innovations that are now demanded the world over.
“A key reason for Vocalink’s success overseas is that we’ve exported both the experience, the innovations and the talent. If I look at my current pipeline I’ve probably got about 56 companies all on the journey of doing faster payments… we did that 11 years ago in the UK. We are a reference point for the rest of the world for new payments innovation.”
Fast forward to the end of a tumultuous year, and Mastercard has recognised the UK’s faster payments prowess, bringing the Vocalink service to yet another country to achieve real-time solutions.
