Payments Canada announces change at the top

Tracey Black has decided not to renew her term as president and chief executive officer of Payments Canada after five years at the organisation, and will step down effective March 31, 2024.

The board of directors is to undertake a search for her successor, with chief financial officer Kristina Logue and chief delivery officer Jude Pinto appointed interim chief executive officers from April 1.

Black will complete her leadership term through to the end of March this year.

Payments Canada’s outgoing president and CEO Tracey Black

In a statement, the board confirmed that it will initiate a “comprehensive” internal and external search process to identify Black’s successor, who will “lead the organization through the next phase of payment innovation”.

Garry Foster, chair of the Payments Canada board of directors, said: “Tracey’s leadership has been crucial to the progress Payments Canada has made in modernising the payment ecosystem in Canada and positioning the organisation for the next phase in its advancements.

“As we search for Tracey’s successor, Kristina and Jude’s combined experience as seasoned industry leaders, and their expertise in leading critical operational aspects of our business, will serve Payments Canada well as interim co-CEOs.”

in 2021, Black led the implementation of Lynx, which replaced the Large Value Transfer System, which had served as Canada’s high-value payment system since 1999.

In March 2023, she led the second release of Lynx, which introduced the ISO 20022 financial message standard (MX messages) to enable data-rich payments.

Black said: “I am proud of what our team at Payments Canada has achieved in the continued modernisation of our nation’s payment systems, in partnership with our members and in collaboration with Canada’s payment ecosystem.

“Together, we have achieved major progress in advancing innovations that serve Canadian consumers and businesses, and support our nation’s broader economic interests on the global stage.”

“I feel extremely confident that Payments Canada, our members, partners and employees are in excellent hands – and perfectly poised for the next phase of continued payment innovation in Canada,” Black added.

Last year, Payments Canada revealed it was conducting a second review of the delivery of Canada’s payment system, thereby further delaying the launch of Real-Time Rail (RTR), which has faced a series of setbacks.

In his new role as interim co-chief executive officer Pinto will “continue to lend his expertise and experience leading large-scale delivery programs in leading the next phase of the RTR”, according to the board.