October 23, 2009
As
the operator of Canada’s national payments clearing and settlement
systems, the Canadian Payments Association plays a leadership role in
providing safe, sound and efficient systems to meet the current and
future payment needs of Canadians.
In May of
2009, the CPA launched a nation-wide consultation on its proposed
Long-Term Payments Strategy, Vision 2020 – a draft strategy that sets
forth a roadmap for personal, corporate and wholesale payments until the
year 2020.
Over the past five months, extensive
public consultations have enabled the CPA to collect valuable feedback
which will help shape the final direction for the CPA’s Payments
Strategy. Our goal is to ensure that the systems for payments, clearing
and settlement continue to evolve to meet the needs of consumers and
businesses.
The CPA reached out to
the users of the payments system
across the country in order to better understand their views on the
current payment landscape, to identify options for enhancing payment
efficiencies and to understand what is needed to improve the payment
experience for financial institutions, consumers, businesses, government and other
interested parties. How could the CPA’s proposed changes in Vision
2020 impact the current system? What implications might these
strategies have on Canadians? Identifying issues and potential courses
of action that seek to balance the needs of all participants requires cooperation among
the different parties involved in the payments marketplace.
In addition to the written
consultation exercise, the CPA hosted
webinar sessions in June which provided an in-depth review of the
draft strategy and further socialized attendees with its vision. During
the month of September, hundreds of stakeholders attended one of six
cross-country town-hall sessions, forums in which participants could
discuss their views, learn from their industry counterparts, and round
out the panoramic perspective that is so valuable to the CPA’s policy
development process.
To learn more about this timely and
very exciting initiative, please consult the following information
package on the CPA’s proposed Long-Term Payments Strategy,
including:
The
CPA is currently
reviewing all the feedback it received
during the public consultation period.
A
summary of the key issues raised in the written submissions and
town-halls was shared with the CPA Board of Directors. This
important feedback is helping shape the strategy and, in some cases, is
helping the CPA identify areas or issues for, further study and
discussion.
