Media Advisory: Payments SUMMIT opens to record crowds ready to talk innovation, collaboration and protection for Canada’s payments industry

OTTAWA, May 24, 2017 – Today in Toronto, The SUMMIT, Canada’s largest payments conference, welcomed a record number of attendees ready to engage, collaborate and partner in payments discussions.

The morning sessions paved the way for what to expect over the next three days, with Don Tapscott, award- winning author of Bitcoin Revolution and co-founder of the Blockchain Research Institute, challenging participants to imagine Canada as a global hub for blockchain technology.

Morning sessions went on to cover a range of current challenges in the payments world, including global trends in modernization and the impact for Canada; innovative opportunities in the digital economy; cybersecurity and regulatory reform.

Payments professionals, along with business and Canadian FinTech start-up leaders, will spend their first afternoon exploring topics on cognitive banking with IBM’s Vivek Bajaj, open API banking, and the quantum threat to payment systems, with Michele Mosca, from the University of Waterloo.

Overall, The SUMMIT is featuring some of the biggest names and news in payments, including:

• Brian Porter, President and CEO of one of Canada’s “Big Five,” Scotiabank.
• Joi Ito, Venture Capitalist, early Investor in Twitter, Flickr, Kickstarter and Director of the MIT Media Lab.
• Payments with Purpose sessions featuring Kosta Peric, Deputy Director, Financial Services for the Poor, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Mahar Arar, CEO of CauseSquare.
• Greg Wolfond, founder and CEO of SecureKey Technologies, which is at the centre of the recently announced digital ID and authentication initiative with IBM.
• Leaders from Ethereum (Consensus), Hyperledger (IBM) and Corda (R3) appearing together to present the future of blockchain for business.
• Leading representatives from Shopify, PayPal, ADP, Mastercard, IBM, Interac, R3 LRC, SWIFT, Walmart and many others.

From the newest innovations, like artificial intelligence and quantum computing, to the FinTech Cup, which recognizes emerging leaders, The SUMMIT will leave delegates with a better understanding of the opportunities for an aligned payments ecosystem in Canada. Review the full agenda and learn more about what is happening at The SUMMIT. Unable to attend? You can follow The SUMMIT on Twitter via @thesummit and #PayCanSUMMIT

For media inquires, please visit the Media Centre.

About Payments Canada

Payments Canada ensure 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 and settled by Payments Canada in 2016 was C$51 trillion or C$201 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.