Payments

INTERAC® Debit on Android Pay

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Grocery shopping with my two little kids is quite the event. Luckily, I have a habit of gamifying everything and turning grocery shopping into an adventure makes walking up and down almost every aisle less of a chore. It’s my way of making things fun for the little ones – and of course, myself.

It was only a few weeks ago, as we arrived at the cashier with a cart full of groceries, it felt like we had made it to the finish line. All the items were scanned and packed into bags. I was ready to pay and as I reached into my back pocket, I was hit with the gut-wrenching panic of realizing that I had forgotten my wallet at home!

In one way or another, I’m sure you can relate to my story. We’ve all been there before; whether you have forgotten your wallet or just wished you didn’t have to carry it around in the first place. Either way, standing there, at that moment, there would have been nothing more satisfying than paying with Interac® Debit on Android Pay!

Well that day has arrived! I’m pleased to say that Canadians can simply and securely use Interac Debit on Android Pay at hundreds of thousands of shops across the country that accept Interac Flash®.

All you need to do is download the app from Google Play , add your Interac debit card and start shopping. That’s it!

Though it’s that simple, it’s also wonderfully secure. Security is one of the fundamental pillars of a sound financial system and of the financial technology that runs it. That is why Interac Debit on Android Pay has been built on the Interac Token Service Provider (TSP) – the first for a domestic payment network.

So what does this really mean for you and me? Well, rather than having our personal account numbers shared between Android Pay, the point-of-sale device, and all throughout the payment network, a randomly-generated account number associated to the real account number is shared. This means that no one and no system at any point in the processing chain has access to the real account number, apart from our own financial institutions and the TSP – all of which reduces the risk of interception by a hacker.

It is in our DNA to create simple, innovative, and secure solutions for Canadians to manage their money, make transactions, and transfer money to their friends and family. Though today is a very exciting step for us and Canadians in general, the road ahead is only getting better. Imagine paying with Interac Debit online and in apps with a simple fingerprint. Imagine your car communicating to the gas station and authorizing your debit transaction while you pump. These are only a few ideas of what the near future holds. However, we believe this future is built together and through our Developer Center we are enabling partners to leverage our platforms to build meaningful and secure solutions that enrich the lives of Canadians.

So join the excitement today; use Interac Debit on Android Pay and avoid that uneasiness of forgetting your wallet at checkout.

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