Canadian Government Launches Task Force for the Review of Payment Systems in Canada
On June 18th, 2010 the Minister of Finance announced the launch of the Task Force for the Payments System Review. The Task Force is to make recommendations to the Minister by the end of 2011. This is an effort to have public policy keep pace with the rate of change in payment methods.
The Task Force will try and balance innovation and competition in payment systems with the issues of payment security and industry oversight. Specifically, the mandate of the Task Force is to:
- Identify public policy objectives to be pursued in the operation and regulation of the payments system.
- Identify and assess the regulatory and institutional structures best suited to achieving those public policy objectives.
- Assess and report on the safety and soundness of the Canadian payments system.
- Assess the competitive landscape for current participants by identifying any potential barriers for new entrants and mechanisms to improve the competitive landscape of the domestic payments system.
- Assess the degree of innovation in the domestic payments system and report on the challenges and opportunities to bring new and innovative products to market in Canada.
- Assess and report on whether consumers and merchants are well served by the domestic payments system.
