News & Resources

Canada rapidly approaching paperless marketplace

Sep 01, 2012 Dave King

In some nations across the world, government agencies have started to get involved in the payment processing game. One could say that it is a good practice, as it could be the best way to regulate the associated technologies, while pushing widespread adoption. In Canada, though, a conglomerate of banks and payment processing providers has taken another step. Wired Magazine recently reported that Canada will beat the United States to a more paperless society, as there is a non-profit system that is already responsible for processing more than 50 percent of credit, debit and ACH card transactions. The system, called Interac, was created and is currently provided by a large association made up of banks and other transaction processing entities. The news provider explains that this has been a huge help for merchants in the nation, as the cost of transactions through the system is incredible competitive - less than one cent per swipe. However, the United States may still have a better shot of moving toward a mostly mobile-made payment landscape, as the Canadian counterpart does not support such technologies. The United States might eventually have a similar system, as other groups of businesses in information technology industries have created non-profit conglomerates to further overall success. This includes the Cloud Security Alliance, which has pushed for better security in the virtual technology.