Canada Keeps Pushing Back The Start Of Real-Time Payments

Payments Canada will do a second review of its planned Real-Time Rail (RTR) payments system. This will push back the deadline for completing the troubled project.

The payments body says that current shipping delays that have nothing to do with the exchange technology components are affecting when the RTR will go live.

Payments Canada will start a new three-month review into the risks found in the delivery of the RTR to find out what’s going on.

Payments Canada hired a third party at the beginning of this year to look at delivery assurance, with a focus on program management, people, and processes. This review was finished in Q1 and suggested more tests and investments to make sure the RTR system will keep running after it goes live.

RTR is part of a multi-year, multi-system effort to modernize payments. It will let Canadians start payments and receive funds that can’t be changed in seconds, 24/7/365. The system will also use the ISO 20022 message standard to make sure that payment information travels with every payment.

Payments Canada is working on the project with a number of vendors. The RTR clearing and settlement system is being built by Vocalink, which is owned by Mastercard. The local debit network Interac is providing the exchange solution, and TCS is leading the integration.

Payments Canada says that it knows that deadlines have changed since the RTR program started, and it also knows what delays mean for the payment industry.