CBJ JANUARY 2026

31 SPEEDING UP PAYMENTS FOR CANADA’S SMALL BUSINESSES JANUARY 2026 « The Canadian Business Journal 30 The pandemic, alongside changing consumer preferences, has naturally reinforced the need for digitization and moved businesses to lessen their reliance on manual processes to boost overall operational efficiency. Eighty-three per cent of finance professionals surveyed by Interac affirm this notion, saying that applying digital transformation to their function is now a priority . These needs are fuelling demand for innovative business payment solutions, such as Interac e-Transfer® for Business. An enhancement of the existing Interac e-Transfer service, this tool was built to meet the needs of Canadian businesses and offers higher transaction limits up to $25,000 depending on the financial institution, fast money transfers with instant confirmation and rich remittance data, allowing businesses to reconcile transactions with less paperwork. In other words, it can help streamline accounting processes and accelerate a paperless office strategy. For those who own small businesses this would mean being able to make just-in-time supplier payments as these payments will be confirmed and deposited within five seconds, minimizing the likelihood of late payments and maximizing eligibility for supplier discounts. Further, businesses could settle bill payments for regular expenses such as rent or utilities more efficiently. From an internal standpoint, it could mean the ability to manage payroll in real-time, with employees receiving payments or tip-outs at the end of a shift, maximizing cash-flow for the employee and employer alike. With flexible routing options, these payments could also be routed directly to an account number, or via an identifier like an email or SMS. In practice, the flexibility of Interac e-Transfer for Business has met a variety of payment needs when put to use. For example, Interac e-Transfer for Business made it easy for one Canadian small business to collect food delivery payments while simultaneously serving the needs of their tax-exempt customers. Given some third-party food delivery apps are unable to remove sales tax from orders at present, the restaurant of a local inn signed up for Interac e-Transfer for Business to offer a payment solution to their customers. By enabling the service, they were able to receive payments instantly while serving the unique needs of their community. Receiving payments instantly in this way can also be a game changer if a business is largely reliant on cheques, as there can often be uncertainty around whether a cheque will clear or when it will arrive in the mail. This is exactly the case for one Canadian fresh juice seller which found itself collaborating with other nearby small food and beverage businesses during the pandemic to include their products in deliveries. While a great way to give back and support the entire community, it also meant more transactions and payment management with other small businesses — sometimes very small ones. With Interac e-Transfer for Business, the company is now able to manage this new abundance of relatively small B2B transactions directly from its online banking and can receive payment instantly, reducing the number of cheques and cash they receive. Getting paid in seconds means money arrives in the bank right away, which helps improve cash flow and save time. For this growing business, freeing-up time is key, so team members can spend less on repetitive back-office tasks and more on dealing with renewed demand and growth from consumers. In a recovery-focused economy, these examples demonstrate that the demand for digital payment options within the small business sector is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, eight in 10 (80 per cent) business decision makers surveyed agree that moving from traditional payment options to digital ones will be essential to post-pandemic growth . Assessing how a business can revamp its payment processes and financial management to become more efficient and effective with tools like Interac e-Transfer for Business is necessary to equip small businesses as they embark upon growth and recovery plans. Those interested in using the solution are invited to learn more by visiting Interac.ca/business, In The Know and to discuss the offering with their financial institution. Interac and Interac e-Transfer are registered trademarks of Interac Corp. 1 Interac commissioned Hill+Knowlton Strategies to conduct a national survey of adult Canadians. A total of 1,000 adult residents of Canada were surveyed online in April 2021. The sample was randomly drawn from a panel of potential survey respondents. An associated margin of error for a probability-based sample of this size would be ±2.5%, 19 times out of 20. 2 Interac commissioned Phase 5 Consulting to conduct an online survey of 152 financial decision-makers in Canadian mid-sized businesses with 100-499 employees. Participants were recruited via an online research panel. Fieldwork was conducted in English and French in May 2021. 3 Interac participated in RFi Group’s online commercial banking and payments syndicated survey of decision makers at 363 commercial enterprises with revenues between $10M and $100M. Fieldwork was conducted in English and French in June 2021. Note: Finance transformation describes any strategic initiative meant to create new opportunities for the finance function to add value to the business and align with overall company strategy.