Canadian Payments Association

Payments Canada (formerly the CPA, Canadian Payments Association) is an organization that operates a payment clearing and settlement system in Canada. The Canadian Payments Association was established by the Canadian Payments Act in 1980.

Payments Canada is a corporation that:

Clearing and settlement systems are essential to the smooth functioning of the economy. These systems allow financial institutions to calculate how much is owed to each other as a result of their customer's transactions and to transfer those funds to settle those balances.

Payments Canada operates three clearing and settlement systems.

In 2016, payment Canada's systems cleared and settled 7.4 billion payments totaling over $50.8 trillion - $201.5 billion on average each business day.

The organization has 115 members including the Bank of Canada, chartered banks, trust and loan companies, credit union centrals, federations of caisses populaires and other financial institutions. The Minister of Finance has oversight responsibilities for Payments Canada. The Governor of the Bank of Canada has oversight responsibility for the LVTS and ACSS under the Payment Clearing and Settlement Act.

The 13-member Board of Directors consists of the President; three directors who are directors, officers or employees of members that, in the normal course of business, maintain a settlement account at the Bank of Canada; two directors who are directors, officers or employees of members other than those described previously); and seven directors who are independent of the association and of its members.

A 20-person Stakeholder Advisory Council (SAC) provides advice and input to represent the diverse interests of users of the payments system. The SAC was established in 1996 on a voluntary basis and was formalized in the Canadian Payments Act in 2001. The SAC provides advice to the Payments Canada Board of Directors on payment, clearing, and settlement matters, and contributes input on proposed initiatives, including by-laws, policy statements, and rules that affect third parties. It also identifies issues that might concern payment system users and third-party service providers, and suggests how they could be addressed.

Payments Canada's Member Advisory Council (MAC) serves as a consultative and engagement forum for Payment Canada's members. It was created in 2015, to ensure members continue to have a strong voice with the new majority-independent Board.

Payments Canada is headquartered in Ottawa, with an office in Toronto.

...
Wikipedia