The Canadian company has seen a significant increase in transactions since April 2020
Elly Yates-Roberts |
Canadian payment solutions provider Interac has signed an agreement with Microsoft to use Microsoft Azure’s cloud capabilities to manage the growth of digital transactions.
Interac has seen a significant increase in demand for digital payments during the pandemic, processing almost one billion Interac e-Transfer transactions since the beginning of April 2020. According to a report from payment clearing and settlement organisation Payments Canada, electronic payments accounted for approximately 79 per cent of overall Canadian payment transactions in 2020.
“An important part of our digital transformation strategy is integrating a secure and compliant cloud platform that positions us for future growth and meets the demands of the quickly evolving digital payments landscape,” said Peter Sweers, chief technology and operations officer at Interac. “We chose Microsoft Azure for its increased scale, security and always-on resiliency.”
Interac will migrate its core software to the Microsoft Azure hybrid cloud platform, which offers both public and on-premises private cloud. This will allow Interac to offer faster payments while improving security and fraud controls and offering increased scalability and network resilience.
“Digital payment innovation will play an integral role in Canada’s economic recovery and global competitiveness,” said Kevin Peesker, president of Microsoft Canada. “Across Canada, Microsoft Azure is empowering financial services institutions with its secure, compliant, and scalable platform. By selecting Azure as its strategic and primary cloud provider, Interac will fast-track their key business and technology transformation priorities.”