A handful of Canadian FinTech firms are now in line to reap the benefits of the country’s incoming real-time rail (RTR) payments infrastructure system.
Float, Wise, Koho, Paramount, and Brim are now members of Payments Canada, the organization that underpins the Canadian financial system announced on Tuesday. With their membership, the companies can now apply to participate in payments infrastructure projects and rely less on third-party intermediaries to handle their transactions.
“Becoming members of Payments Canada is a significant step forward that will enable us to offer even faster, more affordable and more convenient international payments to Canadians and to global customers moving money to Canada,” Wise chief banking and expansion officer Diana Avila said in a statement.
“Joining Payments Canada reflects how far KOHO has grown within Canada’s financial ecosystem.”
Daniel Eberhard
Koho
The FinTech firms became eligible for membership back in October when the Bank of Canada named them in its first tranche of registered payment service providers. The designation subjects the companies to new rules and reporting regulations under the Retail Payments Activities Act (RPAA), which came into effect in September.
“Joining Payments Canada reflects how far KOHO has grown within Canada’s financial ecosystem,” Koho founder and CEO Daniel Eberhard said in a statement.
Historically, Payments Canada has only been open to banks, credit unions, and other select traditional financial institutions, but the organization has been expanding its membership to boost competition in the Canadian financial sector. Payments Canada president and CEO Susan E. Hawkins said the organization will continue to add new qualifying members.
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“The ultimate goal is to benefit Canadian consumers and businesses and we are looking forward to the innovative new services that actualize those benefits for all,” Hawkins said in a statement
The new members will have access to new infrastructure for different payment needs, like the retail batch payment system, the high-value payment system, and the forthcoming RTR system. The long-delayed RTR system is meant to facilitate instant, cheaper payments. The 2025 budget reaffirmed that it would be operational sometime this year.
This week, new member Float secured nearly $100 million CAD in debt to expand the scope and flexibility of its financial products for Canadian small businesses. Another new member, United Kingdom-based cross-border payment provider Wise, says its active customers in Canada increased by more than 30 percent in 2025.