Proposed new rule to enhance digital payments: Payments Canada seeks feedback on increase debit card acceptance

May 24, 2019

Consultation paper open until June 23

Payments Canada is seeking feedback on its consultation paper for a new rule, as part of its point-of-service payment rules framework, to enable a broader range of point-of-service debit card acceptance. This new rule further supports the move to digital payments and lessens consumer reliance on cash.

The proposed rule, Rule E5 Exchange of Point-of-Service Delayed Authorization Debit Payment Items for the Purpose of Clearing and Settlement, is written to accommodate debit card payments for point-of-service use cases where it may not be possible to have immediate authorization by a user’s (payor) financial institution.

While a key driver behind the creation of this rule is to accommodate the use of POS debit payments for transit, the rule is designed to enable other possible use cases as well, including those that are generally low-value and largely rely on cash or credit cards, such as:

Payment at parking meters
Payment for on-board purchases (airline/train/ferry)
Payment for vending machine purchases

Payments Canada welcomes feedback on the proposed new rule outlined in the enabling Delayed Authorization consultation paper by June 23, 2019. Interested parties are requested to coordinate internal feedback and send consolidated comments to consultation@payments.ca.