David Heun

As the coronavirus pandemic has driven more people to work from home and shop online, the demands on digital, faster payment systems have been heightened — as have the opportunities for fraudsters to exploit them.

The conversation around advancing the distribution and use of digital currency gets a boost every time the banking system stubs its toe. And there have been many recent examples of financial system problems to point to.

As the Federal Reserve's FedNow instant payments and settlement system enters into testing and use-case development phases, an emphasis on speed to market, ubiquity and compatibility with other systems remains in the forefront.

Speed stands at the forefront of any real-time payments deployment, but the real staying power in new payments innovation rides on the development philosophy of the platform itself.

Financial Software and Systems is upgrading the card management technology for Everlink Payment Services in Canada, converting the legacy card issuing and transaction processing systems to a single digital platform.

After two years of helping banks connect globally to domestic faster payments rails, Swift is planning to expand on that concept.

After two years of helping banks connect globally to domestic faster payments rails, Swift is planning to expand on that concept.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced retailers and consumers alike to consider the benefits of shopping via a mobile app, providers of shopping and loyalty apps were seeking partnerships with security vendors to deploy fraud prevention technology.

With businesses requiring stronger liquidity, BMO will use its online platform and Interac's receivables service to support simultaneous near real-time payment requests to multiple recipients.

The pandemic has spurred a major push toward speedier digital transactions, making it an expeditious time for the Faster Payments Council to expand the range of input it gets to expand its mission.