Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Thunes 2026 Cross Border Payments Index Puts Canada To Test
June 2, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Payments And Market Infrastructure, Open Banking Open Finance And Data Sharing, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Regulation And Policy
Canada Ranks 22nd As Payment Modernization Faces Live Market Test
On June 2, 2026, Thunes and Juniper Research released the 2026 Cross Border Payments Interoperability Index, a 50 country benchmark that measures how easily money moves across borders. Canada ranks 22nd with an overall score of 6.4. That result doesn't simply mean Canada lacks financial infrastructure. It points to a harder problem for maturer markets. That is strong domestic systems don't automatically create cheaper, faster, more open cross border payments.
But that's starting to change now that Canada is incentivizing more competition in fintech and now some key policy files open. Real-Time Rail, broader payment service provider access, Interac e-Transfer access for qualifying PSPs, consumer driven banking, and stablecoin rules all point in the same direction. Global benchmarks now judge whether those components are working in live markets or are being left behind.
Canada Scores Well On Capacity, But Weak On Progress
Canada's scorecard below shows the gap clearly. Solid on economic strength, digital infrastructure, financial inclusion, and cross border connectivity. However, according to the ranking Canada is weak on market dynamics and progress, the category that tracks whether regulation, mandates, open banking, crypto rules, and public payment initiatives create usable momentum (or not).
See: Canada At A Productivity Crossroads, Bank Of Canada Warns
| Canada Index Category | Score | Reader Takeaway |
|---|---|---|
| Economic Health | 7.5 | Canada has a strong base for financial activity |
| Digital Infrastructure | 7.0 | The country has meaningful digital capacity |
| Financial Inclusion | 6.7 | Formal access is broad, but gaps remain |
| Cross Border Connectivity | 6.3 | Cost, speed, and reach still limit performance |
| Market Dynamics And Progress | 4.0 | Canada’s weakest score and the core execution gap |
| Overall Rank | 22nd Of 50 | Middle of the pack for a G7 market |
The low score of 4.0 on market dynamics needs immediate attention. Canada doesn't lack ambition, but it still needs more proof that payment modernization has changed market behaviour, access, pricing, product design, and cross border reach. Otherwise, smoke and mirrors.
Canada’s Modernization Files Need To Work Together
Real-Time Rail could become Canada’s most important domestic payment upgrade in years. Payments Canada says the Real-Time Rail payment system will support instant, data rich account to account payments for eligible participants. Payments Canada also published a PSP participation guide for RTR, which helps payment service providers prepare for access under Canada’s retail payments regime.
The next 18 months will be verytelling, given that the execution timing window is a practical test. Real-Time Rail and Canada’s productivity test comes down to access, fraud controls, pricing, resilience, and product adoption. Faster rails help only when firms can build real workflows on top of them.
Interac has opened another route into mainstream payments. In September 2025, Interac said qualifying PSPs can access Interac e-Transfer if they meet requirements tied to RPAA registration, FINTRAC money services business registration, sponsorship, and risk controls. Interac reports 1.4 billion e-Transfer transactions in 2024, so access to this network gives fintechs a path into a payment habit Canadians already use at scale.
Open banking is also in implementation. Canada’s consumer driven banking framework gives consumers and small businesses secure control over financial data, with future write access expected to support payment initiation. That turns open banking from comparison infrastructure into payment infrastructure. Canada’s open banking commercialization roadmap is now in rollout and about real API usage, accreditation, liability, and business model design.
And then there's Stablecoins. Finance Canada says Canada’s stablecoin framework will regulate fiat backed stablecoins issued by non financial institutions and place issuers under Bank of Canada supervision. That connects directly to the cross border pain measured by Thunes. Bill C-15 gives Canada a digital finance framework, but execution will decide whether stablecoins become trusted payment infrastructure or another narrow product category.
The Global Problem Is Still Cost, Speed, And Trust
The Thunes report gives Canada a useful benchmark because cross border payments still fail basic user tests. The global average remittance cost sits at 6.36 percent, more than double the UN target of less than 3 percent by 2030. The same report finds that 38 percent of surveyed users typically pay more than 3 percent to send a cross border payment.
| Global Friction Point | Thunes Finding | Why It Counts |
|---|---|---|
| Remittance Cost | 6.36 percent global average | More than double the UN target |
| High Fee Exposure | 38 percent pay more than 3 percent | Users still face avoidable cost pressure |
| Payment Delay | 27 percent wait two or more days | Slow payouts hurt household and business cash flow |
| Price Transparency | 41 percent do not always see the final amount upfront | Users cannot compare true cost easily |
| User Priority | 50 percent rank instant transfers first | Speed now beats fees as the top feature |
RTR can improve domestic speed. Open banking can improve data access and future payment initiation. Interac PSP access can widen domestic participation. Stablecoin rules can support regulated digital settlement.
See: Real Time Rail Puts Canada’s Productivity Test In Focus
None of those pieces improves cross border outcomes on its own. The gap is not a lack of providers. It is how well banks, fintechs, PSPs, wallets, FX, fraud controls, compliance systems, and payout networks connect across domestic and international payment flows.
Brazil And India Show The Execution Gap
Brazil and India offer Canada the most useful comparison. Both markets show how live domestic payment rails can change user behaviour. They also show why domestic success doesn't automatically solve international payments.
| Market | Thunes Rank Or Score | Domestic Payment Behaviour | Cross Border Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 22nd overall, 6.4 score, 4.0 market dynamics | Strong infrastructure, but RTR, open banking, PSP access, and stablecoin rules still need market proof | Canada must turn policy design into live interoperability |
| Brazil | 14th overall, 6.7 score, 8.0 market dynamics | Pix helped make instant bank transfers a daily habit. Thunes reports 59 percent of surveyed respondents in Brazil use bank transfers daily or weekly | Live rails can change behaviour, but 71 percent of Brazilian recipients still wait two or more days for international payments |
| India | High domestic bank transfer use in the surveyed group | UPI made account to account payments central to daily digital finance | Cross border costs remain high. Thunes reports 54 percent of surveyed users in India typically pay more than 3 percent for cross border transfers |
The lesson is that working rails change expectations. Once consumers and businesses experience instant domestic payments, delays and hidden costs in international payments become harder to defend. Canada has not yet had that market wide real time payment moment. RTR can help create it if access, fraud controls, pricing, and use cases land together.
Stablecoins Look More Useful As Settlement Infrastructure
The stablecoin section of the Thunes report is stronger when read as infrastructure analysis. Stablecoins can settle quickly at low on chain cost, but users still need practical conversion into bank accounts, wallets, cards, or cash. That last mile problem limits mainstream use.
| Stablecoin Data Point | What Thunes Found | Policy Read For Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Core Benefit | Immediate settlement at low on chain cost | Useful for cross border settlement if rules, custody, and redemption work |
| Main Constraint | Local currency conversion remains challenging | Stablecoins need connections to banks, PSPs, wallets, and payout networks |
| Nigeria Usage | 29 percent of surveyed respondents used stablecoins | Demand rises where currency pressure and payment friction are higher |
| Top Nigeria Use Case | 58 percent used stablecoins to store value | Stablecoins do not start only as payment products |
| Nigeria Payments Use | 9 percent used stablecoins for domestic payments and 39 percent used them for international payments | Cross border utility looks stronger than domestic merchant use in this sample |
Canada now has domestic stablecoin proof points. Tetra’s CADD launch brought a Canadian dollar payment stablecoin issued through a regulated financial institution. Stablecorp’s QCAD work has added regulatory, bank custody, and exchange access milestones. Loon’s CADC acquisition gives Canada another Canadian dollar stablecoin initiative with existing transaction history. These examples make Canada’s stablecoin debate more practical. The issue is no longer whether Canadian dollar stablecoin projects exist. It is whether they can earn trusted roles in payment and settlement workflows.
The Thunes report doesn't frame stablecoins as an immediate replacement for banks or remittance brands. Stablecoins may work first as a middle leg settlement layer inside money transfer operators, banks, wallets, and payment platforms. That fits Canada’s policy challenge. Rules for reserves, redemption, supervision, governance, and AML controls matter, but market value comes from trusted use inside real payment flows.
Canada’s retail market still looks early. FCAC stablecoin survey findings show that 4% of Canadian adults hold stablecoins and 5% held them in the past. That gap between infrastructure activity and consumer adoption should guide policy design. Canada should not build stablecoin rules only around today’s retail ownership. It should test whether regulated Canadian dollar stablecoins can support remittances, merchant settlement, marketplace payouts, treasury use, and business to business payments across domestic and international corridors.
Talking Point
Can Canada turn payment modernization into live cross border advantage before faster markets pull further ahead?
Better outcomes will come from live RTR access, PSP onboarding that works in market, open banking with payment initiation, stablecoin rules tied to real payment use cases, and fraud controls that scale across real time flows. The Canadian pieces are coming together, but the test will be whether they work together fast enough to improve cost, speed, transparency, and cross border reach.
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