More options for Canadians seeking Cross-border money transfers.
Immigrants sending money back home now have a new option from two global financial networks. MasterCard and Interac have just announced a collaboration to offer Canadians a fast, simple, and secure way to send money internationally.
By leveraging Mastercard Send, a push-payments service that powers a faster, better, smarter way to send money cross border, the Interac e-Transfer platform will allow customers to send money from Canada to bank accounts internationally, starting with Europe.
National Bank will be the first bank to pilot the new international remittance solution for its personal banking clients. Canada is a large market for international payments, due to its diverse population, new immigrants and the number of businesses that operate in an increasingly global marketplace.
With Mastercard and Interac’s combined offering, Canadians and new immigrants will be able to simply log in to their mobile or online banking services and send funds securely globally using the familiar Interac e-Transfer brand. This new international money transfer service was launched at the Collision 2021.
“Consumers and businesses today operate globally. Whether it is travelling abroad, sending money to family or friends overseas, or purchasing products from a business in another country, the ability to move funds across borders quickly, easily, and securely is becoming a must-have,” said Ramesh Jayakrishnan, director of Push Payments for Mastercard in Canada.”
“Interac e-Transfer is the go-to way to move your money securely in Canada, as represented by the millions of people who use it each day for their personal and business affairs,” said Peter Maoloni, vice president, Product & Platform Delivery, Interac Corp. “
Gabrielle Cournoyer, vice president, Cards & Payment Solutions at National Bank, restated that the new digital solution will speed up cross-border payments and meets a growing need to send funds quickly and securely.
International money transfers and the migration of capital from Western nations are huge drivers of growth for most developing countries. According to a World Bank report, remittance flows in 2020 to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) exceeded USD 508 billion, with $24.5 billion from Canada alone. This marks a drop from the $554 billion precedent recorded the year before.
Despite the decline, remittance flows are expected to become even more important as a source of external financing for LMICs as the fall in foreign direct investment is expected to be larger. As the economy slowly recovers from the global pandemic, International money transfers are expected to accelerate accordingly.
