Wise gains Payments Canada membership to target RTR

Wise has become a member of Payments Canada, giving the money transfer company a route to Canada's national payment infrastructure.

The membership makes Wise eligible to apply to participate in systems including the retail batch payment system, the high-value system Lynx and the planned Real-Time Rail. It intends to apply to join the Real-Time Rail, which is designed to support real-time payments around the clock.

Canada is a significant market for Wise as it expands its direct links to domestic payment networks rather than relying on traditional cross-border banking arrangements. The company already has direct access to payment systems in eight other markets, including the UK, Australia and Singapore.

Josh Rowat, Banking and Expansion Manager, North America at Wise, said the membership would support efforts to lower the cost of international transfers and speed them up for users in Canada.

"Canada is an important market for Wise, and we're laser focused on making international payments faster and lower cost for our Canadian customers. Becoming a member of Payments Canada is an investment in strengthening our global payment infrastructure," Rowat said.

Payments Canada has expanded its membership to include regulated payment service providers, opening the national payments framework to non-bank groups such as Wise. Broader access could increase competition in a market where participation has historically been limited to major banks.

RTR access

The Real-Time Rail is a central part of Canada's payments modernisation plans. Wise said the system would allow payments to clear and settle in seconds, 24/7, giving users quicker access to funds, including outside standard banking hours.

Wise also highlighted the use of the ISO 20022 messaging standard in the Real-Time Rail, which would enable more information to accompany each transaction. In turn, that could provide clearer payment details for customers and businesses handling cross-border transfers involving Canada.

"As a member of Payments Canada, Wise intends to apply to participate in the RTR," Rowat said.

Direct access to domestic payment rails can reduce costs and simplify operations by limiting the number of intermediaries involved in cross-border payments. Wise pointed to its earlier connection to the Bank of England's Faster Payments Service, where fees fell by 20 per cent after it became the first non-bank to connect directly.

Canadian market

Wise offers services that let individuals and businesses send, receive, hold and spend money in multiple currencies. Customers can hold 40 currencies and use their debit card in more than 100 countries. In Canada, the company also supplies payment technology to financial groups, including EQ Bank and Wealthsimple.

In its latest fiscal year, Wise processed more than CAD $254 billion in cross-border transactions for about 15.6 million people and businesses. It said it saved customers around CAD $3.8 billion over that period, while estimating global customer savings of about CAD $3.7 billion in the last year alone compared with banks.

According to Wise, 75 per cent of its payments arrive in under 20 seconds, and its average fee is 0.51 per cent. The company contrasted that with what it described as an industry average of three to five per cent for international payments.

Transparency push

Beyond infrastructure access, Wise used the announcement to restate its long-running criticism of hidden charges in international payments. It said Canadians often face fees embedded in exchange rates rather than disclosed separately.

Rowat said Wise wants transparency to become standard across domestic and international payments in Canada. He pointed to estimates that hidden fees in international payments would cost Canadian consumers CAD $1.7 billion in 2026.

"Five years from now, we hope transparency will be the standard in payments - whether they're sent domestically or internationally. Today, too many Canadians still don't know how much they actually pay to send or spend money across borders, because fees are often buried in inflated exchange rates," Rowat said.

Wise said its membership in Payments Canada would allow it to participate more directly in the country's payment systems as rules develop for new entrants. It added that it would work with Payments Canada and regulators as it moves through the application process for direct participation.

"Through our membership to Payments Canada and as we move toward applying for participation in Canada's national payment systems, we will continue to advocate for a clear roadmap on how transparency will be regulated and enforced. Ultimately, we want to see a payment ecosystem where hidden fees are a thing of the past and Canadians have greater confidence and control whenever they move money," Rowat said.