Azure will enable Interac to continue to shape the future of payments for Canadian consumers and businesses
TORONTO, November 29, 2021 โ Today, Interac Corp. announced an agreement with Microsoft to use Microsoft Azureโs cloud capabilities to securely manage the continued growth of digital transactions, enabling greater innovation and ultimately faster payments.
As a central leader in Canadaโs payments ecosystem, Interac has seen a surge in demand for its solutions and requires a trusted, reliable and secure cloud platform to support ongoing innovation and product development. During the pandemic the company processed almost one billion Interacยฎ e-Transfer transactions sent since the beginning of April 2020.1
โAn important part of our digital transformation strategy is integrating a secure and compliant cloud platform that positions us for future growth and meets the demands of the quickly evolving digital payments landscape,โ said Peter Sweers, Chief Technology & Operations Officer at Interac. โWe chose Microsoft Azure for its increased scale, security and always-on resiliency.โ
According to a report from Payments Canada, electronic payments accounted for approximately 79 per cent of overall Canadian payment transactions in 2020 alone.2 Now, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, even more Canadian consumers and businesses are opting for digital methods of payment instead of cash or cheques.
By using Microsoftโs cloud capabilities and security investments, Interac will further accelerate its transformation journey to include faster data-rich payments, increased scalability and resilience, improved security and fraud controls, better redundancy and new innovative services for business and individuals. Azure provides Interac with an innovative hybrid model of public and on-premises private cloud that will enable the business to move faster and maintain its high reliability levels.
โDigital payment innovation will play an integral role in Canada’s economic recovery and global competitiveness.โ said Kevin Peesker, President, Microsoft Canada. โAcross Canada, Microsoft Azure is empowering financial services institutions with its secure, compliant, and scalable platform. By selecting Azure as its strategic and primary cloud provider, Interac will fast-track their key business and technology transformation priorities.โ
“We are committed to maintaining and attracting top talent as we build the future of digital payments in Canada,โ added Sweers. โInvesting in leading edge technologies like Microsoft Azure is an important investment in our technology teams and their career growth.โ
About Interac
Interac Corp. empowers Canadians to transact digitally with confidence by providing payment and value exchange services. Through our world-class privacy, fraud mitigation, governance and digital identity and authentication expertise, we help keep Canadian customers safe and secure when transacting. With nearly 300 financial institutions connected to our network, Canadians choose Interac products an average of 18 million times a day to pay and exchange money. Interac champions workplace culture and corporate citizenship based on the principles of responsibility, diversity and inclusion. We are proud to be one of Canada’s leading and most trusted financial brands. For more information, visit In the Know.
For further information
Media contact: Interac Corp., 416-869-2017, media@interac.ca
1 Interac e-Transfer transactions totalled 997,356,966 transactions April 2020 to May 2021
2 Canadian Payment Methods and Trends 2021 Report, Payments Canada, September 2021
Interac e-Transfer is a registered trade-mark of Interac Corp.
