Press releases

Tracey Black joins Payments Canada Executive Team; Andrew McCormack named CIO


OTTAWA, October 18, 2018 - Payments Canada announced today the appointment of Tracey Black to Executive Director, Modernization and Andrew McCormack to Chief Information Officer, effective November 1.

Ms. Black joins Payments Canada from her role as president of Toronto-based consulting firm GFH Group Inc., the firm that managed the Canadian Chip Trial Program Management Office and coordinating the efforts of all payment stakeholders participating in the trial and launch of EMV in Canada. Prior to launching GFH Group, Ms. Black held senior positions at TD and RBC.  She was also a consultant and advisor at McKinsey & Company, the firm that supported the development of Payments Canada's Vision for the Canadian Payments Ecosystem.

“Tracey is an expert in payments, innovation and stakeholder engagement and, in a previous role, was a major contributor to the industry’s vision for a modern payment system,” said Gerry Gaetz, President & CEO of Payments Canada. “The addition of Tracey to our executive team  brings deep expertise that strengthens our capabilities as we move into delivery mode on payments modernization.”

Ms. Black replaces Jan Pilbauer in the role. The two will work closely together in lead up to Mr. Pilbauer’s departure at year end to take on the role of Chief Payments & Innovation Officer at BankservAfrica, Africa's largest payments clearing house. Mr. Pilbauer’s accountabilities as Chief Information Officer will be transitioned to Andrew McCormack, previously Vice President, Payments & Technology at Payments Canada. Mr. McCormack will support Modernization from a technology delivery perspective, with a specific focus on Lynx and the real-time rail.

Payments Canada is leading a multi-year industry program to modernize the infrastructure, rules and standards that underpin payments in Canada. These improvements will strengthen our resilience, align with international standards and create a platform for innovation, enabling new and exciting ways for Canadians to pay for goods and services, transfer funds and exchange data about their payments. Supporting innovation at the customer level will be a faster, more flexible and secure payments infrastructure that puts Canada at the leading edge of payments.

For more information on payments Modernization in Canada, visit Modernization.

About Payments Canada

Payments Canada ensures that financial transactions in Canada are carried out safely and securely each day. The organization underpins the Canadian financial system and economy by owning and operating Canada’s payment clearing and settlement infrastructure, including associated systems, bylaws, rules and standards. The value of payments cleared by Payments Canada’s systems in 2017 was approximately $50 trillion or $200 billion every business day. These encompass a wide range of payments made by Canadians and businesses involving inter-bank transactions, including those made with debit cards, pre-authorized debits, direct deposits, bill payments, wire payments and cheques. Payments Canada is a proud supporter of the Catalyst Accord and the 30% Club.


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