With the Consumer-Driven Banking framework moving from policy to delivery and the Real-Time Rail (RTR) nearing launch, Canada is preparing to introduce two of the most significant financial infrastructure changes in decades.
But industry leaders at Open Banking Expo Canada 2026 argued that these technologies cannot succeed in isolation.
Instead, the real opportunity lies in their convergence.
In a Powerhouse Debate bringing together experts from ADP Canada, Paybilt, Peoples Group and Morguard, speakers explored how combining real-time payments with Open Data could transform financial services, unlock new use cases and eliminate the delays that still frustrate businesses and consumers.
The gap between speed and data
Despite Canada’s ambitions, everyday financial transactions still suffer from outdated processes.
Val Kugathasan, head of innovation for money movement at ADP Canada, opened the discussion by highlighting the disconnect between modern expectations and existing infrastructure.
“If you wanted to pay your rent this morning, your landlord is still waiting on a pre-authorized debit to clear,” he said.
Similarly, employees waiting to access earned wages or businesses waiting for supplier payments often face delays caused by legacy payment systems.
As Kugathasan put it: “The gap between speed and data is real.”
Electronic funds transfers provide structured data but can take days to settle, while faster payment options often lack the contextual information needed for reconciliation.
To solve this problem, the panel described a three-layer ecosystem made up of infrastructure, permissions and customer experience.
“If we look at the opportunity to blend Real-Time Rail and Open Banking, we can see that they can work together. That intersection between the rail, the permission layer, and the experience layer is what we are calling ‘the velocity of value’,” he said.
Innovation has already begun
While Canada’s official frameworks are still being implemented, innovation is already underway.
Khadir Ahmed, vice president of Canada payment operations at ADP Canada, said the industry has been building solutions even before Open Banking and RTR are fully operational.
“The interesting thing with client needs is they don’t wait,” he said. “So, we’re talking about Open Banking, we’re talking about real-time payments, but what I want to assure you is we can start on a lot of those things today.”
Businesses and fintechs have developed workarounds, early wage access services and real-time payment alternatives to meet customer demand.
These innovations demonstrate that the market has already validated the need for faster, more intelligent financial services.
Once Open Banking and RTR arrive, they will provide the standardised infrastructure needed to scale those capabilities.
Unlocking new financial use cases
The convergence of real-time payments and data-sharing has the potential to unlock entirely new financial experiences.
For payroll providers like ADP, access to real-time payment rails combined with consented financial data could support services such as verified income checks, digital mortgage approvals and more dynamic financial wellness tools.
Ahmed pointed to income verification as one example where Open Banking could replace manual processes, such as employment letters and pay stub submissions with digital, real-time verification.
For industries such as real estate, the impact could also be significant.
John Chung, chief information officer at Morguard, said property management still relies heavily on manual processes for rent collection and vendor payments.
Real-time payment capabilities could simplify these workflows while improving reconciliation and reducing administrative burden.
“A key driver for us is that it’s very manually done. We’ve got a lot of legacy processes. It’s very fragmented,” he said, adding that he is looking for “anything that can resolve that”.
The role of fintech-bank collaboration
The panel also emphasised that delivering these new capabilities will require strong collaboration between fintech innovators and financial institutions.
Rohitash Hurla, associate vice president, strategic accounts at Peoples Group, described the relationship between banks and fintechs as similar to a relay race.
Banks provide the foundational infrastructure and regulatory framework, while fintech companies build customer-facing experiences and innovative payment solutions.
With Open Banking and RTR making both data and payments more accessible, that partnership will only become more important, he noted.
“The bar of expectation will be much higher,” Hurla said, noting that faster payments and Open Data will raise customer expectations across the ecosystem.
Building trust in the consent layer
As these technologies converge, the issue of consumer consent will also become more central.
Open Banking relies on customers granting permission for third parties to access financial data, but trust in that process will depend on delivering clear value.
“If I’m giving up some of my data, I need something in return,” said Vlad Cazan, chief technology officer at Paybilt.
Delivering seamless user experiences and ensuring reliable payment outcomes will be key to maintaining that trust.
“What we’re trying to do at PayBilt is create this seamless, known experience for the customer that looks exactly the same. So that when Real-Time Rail comes in, customers are used to payment flows, are used to the experiences without really knowing what’s happening behind the scenes, because most of them don’t really care.
“They just know that the money’s going to be sent today, instead of tomorrow or next week.”
The future of payments infrastructure
Looking ahead, the panel highlighted several innovations that could shape the next phase of Canada’s financial ecosystem.
Ideas ranged from unified payment experiences similar to India’s UPI system, to account number tokenisation that could improve security when sharing payment credentials.
Panellists also emphasised the need to simplify payments infrastructure overall.
A critical moment for Canada
Canada’s payments ecosystem has spent years preparing for the arrival of both Open Banking and Real-Time Rail.
The discussion at Open Banking Expo Canada made it clear that the real transformation will not come from either technology alone.
Instead, the future of finance lies in combining the “brain” of data with the “muscle” of payment speed.
Further reading: No directory, no trust: The hidden foundation of Open Finance