Throughout 2021, Interac employees worked diligently to support increased demand for digital payments by people and businesses alike. Our goal is to ensure Canadians can transact with confidence, knowing their money is being moved securely and efficiently. 2021 brought new opportunities as we launched new lines of business and enhanced our products to better serve Canadians. See below for major highlights of 2021:
Advancing our offerings beyond payments
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the need for digital identity services in Canada. As one of Canada’s most trusted brands, Interac is proud to be driving the evolution of digital ID for Canadians, and in 2021, Interac acquired the exclusive rights to SecureKey Technologies Canadian digital ID services. This is the latest investment, following our 2019 acquisition of 2Keys Corporation, to bring together world-class digital ID and authentication capabilities to market.
Since then, we have been working towards delivering a network that will offer secure and reliable digital ID verification for all Canadians. Having access to digital ID verification will provide convenience and security in various sectors such as healthcare, real estate, air travel, and so much more. Learn more here.
InLife Brand Launch
In 2021, we launched our InLife Brand Platform that showcases how Canadians can live life to the fullest by using and being in control of their own money. The platform is rooted in the idea that being in control of your money isn’t about having more of it, but rather doing more with what you have. This is what inspires us to build products that are simple, instant and secure to allow Canadians to live simpler, more joyful and less stressful lives.
We also found unique ways to engage and bring InLife moments to consumers across Canada. We created Sound of Spending, a digital tool that transforms Canadian spending trends into music, giving Canadians a new way of understanding their spending in life. Learn more about the InLife Brand platform here.
Investing in our resiliency and infrastructure
As Canadians continue to leverage digital payments at an accelerated rate, it’s imperative that our technology and infrastructure are built to support that growth. In 2021, we signed an agreement with Microsoft to use Microsoft Azure’s cloud capabilities to securely manage the continued growth of digital transactions, enabling greater innovation and ultimately faster payments.
Advancing our products to support business owners
Supporting businesses across Canada is at the core of what we do. In August 2021, we launched Interac e-Transfer for Business, a solution for Canadian businesses that enables real-time digital payments to personal and commercial bank accounts. Having this innovative solution adds to the efficiency of any business no matter the size. Since its launch, 15 financial institutions have introduced Interac e-Transfer for Business and offers ~65% of the business banking market in Canada the ability to send real-time payments.
One of the most important features of Interac e-Transfer for Business? The time it gives back to business owners. Digitizing business payments helps reduce the amount of time and energy owners spend on processes like payroll and cheque reconciliation. Interac e-Transfer for Business frees up time to focus on the things that matter more — like growing a business and finding ways to serve customers better.
Investing in our employees
Throughout 2021, not only did our product footprint grow, our team grew too. We added 140 employees in 2021, while also working hard to keep our current employees feeling supported and engaged. In 2021, we doubled mental health benefits for all employees and their dependents and expanded programming and resources to ensure they were prioritizing their wellbeing.
We also prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion at Interac and believe not only in accepting what makes us unique, but also celebrating it. We spent 2021 commemorating Black History Month, International Women’s Day, and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and celebrated Pride Month by partnering with local organizations and small businesses. We were also certified as an inclusive employer by Diversio, a people intelligence agency, for our commitment to building a more inclusive business.
Serving our community
COVID-19 has starkly highlighted the importance of community, togetherness and standing up for one another – all principles Interac proudly champions. As health restrictions began to ease over the summer, we partnered with Metro Grocery to launch the Metro Retro Drive-In series, which brought local communities and small businesses together for free movie nights.
Internally, our employees rallied for our annual Giving Week benefitting United Way campaign where we raised $180,000 for United Way and their various partner agencies. Through charitable efforts, Interac invested nearly $400,000 to social causes important to Canadians like CAMH, United Way, Fight COVID Racism and many others.
This has been a pivotal year for Interac through our various initiatives around digital ID, community investment, and product innovation. We couldn’t be prouder of all the hard work we’ve done this year at Interac.
