We talk to D'Arcy McDonald, Group Head, Product at Interac, about how money moves in Canada, what Interac’s role in that system is, and how he is working to fend off competition from digital-first upstarts.
What happens when I send an Interac e-Transfer to a friend?
Interac sits at the centre of how money moves in Canada. When you send an Interac e-Transfer, you're not emailing money. You're sending a message that tells your financial institution and your friend's financial institution to move the funds between them. Interac connects nearly 300 banks and credit unions, so sending money by Interac e-Transfer works whether you're both at the same financial institution or not, 24/7. Your friend is identified by an email or phone number, the two financial institutions talk to each other over our network, and the money moves directly between them.
How is Interac adapting to consumer expectations of instant transfers for everyday things like splitting a bill at a restaurant?
In Canada, fast, convenient money movement has been part of everyday life for years. Splitting a bill, paying the babysitter, sending your kid money at school — Canadians routinely use Interac e-Transfer without a second thought to move money in seconds. Our job isn't to convince Canadians to expect that. They already do. It's to keep raising the bar: to be smarter at catching fraud before it ever reaches you and more useful in the places money moves now.
I've noticed some fintech companies are offering their own instant transfer products. What advantages does Interac have over these emerging payment options?
Competition is good, and some of these products are genuinely well built. The key difference is structural. Interac is the trusted connective tissue between financial institutions. We’ve been around for more than 40 years, owned and operated in Canada, connected to nearly every financial institution in the country, and Canadians use our products more than 20 million times a day. When digital infrastructure is backed by the industry, it’s durable and trusted.
How are you thinking about digital wallets and mobile payments? Most people below a certain age expect to pay for almost anything, anywhere, with their phone. How does Interac and your strategy fit into that?
You're right; the phone is the new wallet for just about everyone. With our digital wallet, Konek, we started from what Canadians told us they wanted, which was to pay straight from their bank account and keep their information private and secure. Konek is the only digital wallet in Canada where you can pay online at participating merchants with your eligible credit or debit card or directly from your chequing or savings account, offering customers more ways to pay than any other payment solution. You set it up once through your participating bank, use a passkey, and after that it's about one click to pay. Look for Konek at participating online Canadian checkouts.
Tell us more about Konek — what is it, how does it work, and how is it different from the Interac people are familiar with?
Sure. Konek is a new digital wallet powered by Interac and backed by Canada's leading banks. The Interac most people know is the network behind their debit cards and their Interac e-Transfer transactions. Konek takes that same trusted foundation to online checkout, so you can pay a participating merchant directly from your bank account. Konek is also made by Canadians and for Canadians, helps keep Canadians' money and data within Canada and is available today through participating payment providers, including Moneris. Looking ahead, we'll continue to add new features and functionality that make paying and moving money seamless and secure for Canadians.
Sovereignty has become a big focus lately. How does that apply to payments? Why should Canadians care whether their payments run through Interac or a U.S.-based company?
Sovereignty in payments isn’t about keeping the world out. It’s a design decision: who do you build for, who do you build with, and are you willing to sustain it long enough for it to matter. A global wallet is built to work the same way across a hundred markets. Konek is built for one, which means it can be shaped around how Canadians actually pay, by institutions that answer to Canadians. But Konek won’t win because it’s Canadian. It’ll win because it’s better. That’s the bar we’re building to.
How are you thinking about the risks of fraud and scams? With a credit card I can usually do a chargeback and the card company sorts it out. How does that play out with Interac?
Fraud and scams are a serious and growing threat in Canada, and today's scams often involve someone unknowingly authorizing a payment after being deceived. That's what makes them different from traditional fraud. An Interac e-Transfer moves money directly between bank accounts, so if something goes wrong, your first call is always to your financial institution. They hold your account and they are the ones who can act on it. That’s why so much of our work happens before the money moves. Interac invests heavily in fraud and scam prevention, working with nearly 300 Canadian financial institutions to monitor for suspicious activity. At the same time, many scams begin with a phone call, text or online message designed to create urgency. That's why we encourage Canadians to pause, verify who they're dealing with and trust their instincts if something doesn't feel right. Fighting fraud takes everyone working together, combining strong security, industry collaboration and informed consumers.
How do you expect Canadians' experience with Interac will be different two or three years from now? What are the biggest priorities on your roadmap?
First, I think you'll see Konek in a lot more places. It's early today, but the goal is to expand beyond the current checkout solution to deliver more features. Second, we’ll continue to enhance the Interac e-Transfer service with new capabilities. A good example of that is Interac e-Transfer Cards. These are digital greeting cards that let people add a personal touch when sending money for birthdays, weddings or other milestones, transforming everyday transactions into moments of connection. Through all of it, the constant is trust. My job is to help make sure that as Interac does more, it continues to be the trusted option Canadians reach for without a second thought. And that it stays Canadian.
