Canada

Air Canada and its banking partners sweetened their bid for Aeroplan, winning over Aimia’s board and an activist shareholder that was seeking a higher price.

Brim Financial is the only non-bank or credit union to have an issuer licence from Mastercard Canada. Unlike other countries, Canada doesn't require credit card issuers to have bank licenses or bank sponsors.

The U.S. companies agreed to reduce the average annual interchange rate in Canada by 10 basis points to 1.4 percent on cardThe new rate takes effect in 2020 and runs for five years. The government estimated that small and medium-sized businesses could save C$25,000 over the period.

Interac and Bambora see an opportunity to pull back Canadian domestic e-commerce transactions from credit cards to Interac debit and make it possible for Canadians to shop online in the U.S. with Interac cards.

The recent tariff escalations could cause financial pain for specific shopping corridors, particularly in price-conscious locales.

Canadian cardholders are holding back from applying for travel rewards-linked credit cards while they wait for the fallout from Air Canada’s decision to withdraw from the Aeroplan coalition loyalty scheme.

Paysafe Group will launch an in-store and online installment payment service to serve a growing appetite it sees in the U.S. and Canada.

The Canadian government is consulting with the country’s banking industry on opening up Canada’s payments infrastructure to nonbank payment service providers and fintechs, in a far-reaching move to spur innovation and competition.

Nanopay is planning to add bank, processor and accounting software partners for a B2B cross-border and domestic transfer service which it says exceeds the performance of blockchain-based systems.

Toronto-based Mint Corp. is taking advantage of the UAE government’s ambitious plans to develop a digital, cashless society.