Moving money without borders

A Q&A with Josh Rowat, Banking and Expansion — North America at Wise.

Wise has become a member of Payments Canada, an important step to gain access to Canada's national payment infrastructure, including the upcoming Real-Time Rail (RTR). This move supports Wise's core mission: building the best way to move and manage the world’s money. To better understand the value of Payments Canada membership for the future of international payments for Canadians, we spoke with Josh Rowat, Wise's Banking and Expansion Manager for North America.

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What does Wise do?
If you’ve ever tried to send money internationally — whether that’s as a business paying a supplier or an individual sending money to family — you’ve probably experienced how slow, confusing and expensive it can be. Between hidden fees, marked-up exchange rates and long delivery times, the process can feel unnecessarily complicated. Wise was founded 15 years ago to change that.

Wise is a global technology company building the best way to move and manage the world’s money. We help people and businesses send, receive, hold and spend money internationally — faster, more conveniently and with full transparency on fees. In the last year alone, we’ve saved our customers globally approximately $3.7 billion CAD compared to banks.

With the Wise Account and Wise Business, people and businesses can hold 40 currencies, move money between countries and spend money abroad. Customers can also spend in more than 100 countries using the Wise debit card. Banks, financial institutions and major enterprises, including EQ Bank and Wealthsimple in Canada, also use Wise’s global payment technology to power international financial solutions for their own customers via our infrastructure offering, Wise Platform.

Behind the scenes, we’ve been building a unique global payment network that connects local payment systems around the world, reducing reliance on older, slower cross-border processes. It’s this infrastructure that enables 75 per cent of our payments to arrive instantly (in under 20 seconds), at an average fee of 0.51 per cent, compared to an industry average of three to five per cent.

Why did you become a member of Payments Canada?
Canada is an important market for Wise, and we’re laser focused on making international payments faster and lower cost for our Canadian customers. Becoming a member of Payments Canada is an investment in strengthening our global payment infrastructure.

Payments Canada membership makes Wise eligible to apply to participate in Canada’s national payment systems, including the Retail batch payment system, High-value payment system - Lynx and the forthcoming Real-Time Rail (RTR). Once connected, we'll be able to improve transfer speed, reduce operational complexity and lower costs — savings we will pass on directly to consumers and businesses.

More broadly, access to Canada’s payment schemes has been traditionally limited to major banks. Opening Payments Canada membership to regulated payment service providers (PSPs) like Wise supports greater competition, innovation and resilience in Canada’s payment ecosystem. Increased participation ultimately benefits Canadians through faster, more transparent and more affordable payment options.

Are you currently in or intend to start the application process to become an RTR payment system participant? 
As a member of Payments Canada, Wise intends to apply to participate in the RTR.

The RTR is a major milestone in Canada’s payment modernization journey that will enable real-time, data-rich payments 24/7/365. RTR will also create new opportunities to improve the speed, convenience and transparency of payments in Canada — including for customers moving money internationally.

Wise has direct access to domestic payment systems in eight other markets around the world, including the United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore, and has seen this model work successfully. When Wise became the first non-bank to connect directly to the Bank of England’s Faster Payments Service in 2018, we were able to reduce fees by 20 per cent. Taking the next step towards direct access in Canada is another important building block for our global payment infrastructure and will allow us to continue better serving our customers. We will work closely with Payments Canada and relevant regulators as we progress through the application process.

How will your organization use Canada’s RTR to benefit Canadian consumers, businesses and the overall Canadian payment industry?
The RTR will enable payments that clear and settle in seconds, around the clock. For consumers, that means instant access to funds whenever they need them, including outside traditional banking hours and on holidays. For businesses, it supports stronger cash flow management, faster reconciliation and smoother payment experiences.

For Wise, connecting to the RTR would strengthen our ability to move money seamlessly between Canada and the rest of the world. Direct access to domestic rails helps us improve speed and reliability while reducing operational friction.

The RTR will also use the ISO 20022 messaging standard, which allows more data to travel with each payment. Once connected, Wise will be able to deliver clearer payment information on transactions, further improve our operational resilience and offer more transparent experiences for customers and businesses.

What initial and long-term benefits do your organization and your clients expect to see from the use of the RTR?
In the near term, the RTR will make payments instant and available 24/7/365, giving Canadians faster access to funds and greater convenience. For Wise customers, our future participation on the RTR could mean quicker settlements and improved transparency for payments involving Canada.

Over the longer term, real-time, data-rich payments can transform how consumers and businesses manage money — supporting stronger cash flow, faster reconciliation and clearer payment information.

What does 'payment equity' or 'financial inclusion' mean for your organization, and how does this membership help you achieve your goals in those areas?
We believe money should move instantly, transparently and at low cost for everyone. That’s why Wise always uses the mid-market exchange rate, offers low fees and clearly displays those fees upfront to our customers. This approach ensures that Canadians not only save money when sending abroad, but also understand the true cost of their payments.

As a digital provider, we’re able to extend these benefits broadly and offer more people and businesses access to fair, affordable financial services. In that sense, financial inclusion is not just about price and transparency, but also about expanding access and choice.

Payments Canada membership supports our vision of money without borders by opening the door to greater participation in Canada’s domestic payment systems. As we apply to connect to these payment systems — including the RTR — we can further strengthen our global network and continue delivering the speed, transparency and affordability that our customers deserve.

Picture the Canadian payment landscape five years from now, what is one major change or achievement you hope your organization will have spearheaded through its membership?
Five years from now, we hope transparency will be the standard in payments — whether they’re sent domestically or internationally. Today, too many Canadians still don’t know how much they actually pay to send or spend money across borders, because fees are often buried in inflated exchange rates. In fact, hidden fees in international payments are set to cost Canadian consumers alone a shocking $1.7 billion in 2026 (EDC).

Wise has championed fee transparency since day one, and we want to see that ethos reflected across the wider industry. In Canada, we’ve seen encouraging momentum in this direction; the latest federal budget directly addresses the pervasive problem of hidden fees in international payments. That progress shows there is real appetite to make clear, upfront pricing the norm.

Through our membership to Payments Canada and as we move toward applying for participation in Canada’s national payment systems, we will continue to advocate for a clear roadmap on how transparency will be regulated and enforced. Ultimately, we want to see a payment ecosystem where hidden fees are a thing of the past and Canadians have greater confidence and control whenever they move money.

About Wise

Wise is a global technology company, building the best way to move and manage the world's money.

With Wise Account and Wise Business, people and businesses can hold 40 currencies, move money between countries and spend money abroad. Large companies and banks use Wise technology too; an entirely new network for the world's money. Launched in 2011, Wise is one of the world’s fastest growing, profitable tech companies.

In fiscal year 2025, Wise supported around 15.6 million people and businesses, processing over $254 billion CAD in cross-border transactions and saving customers around $3.8 billion CAD.

Wise recently became a member of Payments Canada.