Retail payments supervision: Supervisory policies and guidelines

Publication date: December 12, 2023
Last updated: October 2, 2024

Access all supervisory policies and guidelines on registration, supervision and enforcement related to the Retail Payment Activities Act and the Retail Payment Activities Regulations.

We develop supervisory policies and guidelines to help payment service providers (PSPs) understand their obligations and how we will supervise them under the Retail Payment Activities Act (RPAA) and the Retail Payment Activities Regulations (RPAR).

  • Supervisory policies are documents that clarify what we will do to carry out our supervisory role, including registration and enforcement activities.
  • Supervisory guidelines are documents that clarify the standards and practices we expect PSPs to incorporate into their business operations to meet risk management requirements. We may conduct consultations on our guidelines to gather input and feedback on these supervisory expectations.

For more terminology about retail payment supervision, refer to the glossary.

Registration

Criteria for registering payment service providers

October 2, 2024

This supervisory policy helps individuals and entities determine if they are subject to the Retail Payment Activities Act and if they should register with the Bank.

To help individuals or entities assess whether they could be subject to the Retail Payment Activities Act, use our self-assessment tool.

Reporting of retail payment activity metrics at registration

February 14, 2024

This supervisory policy outlines the retail payment activity metrics that payment service providers must report at registration.

Registration application fee

December 12, 2023

This supervisory policy explains the one-time fee applicants must pay when submitting an application to register as a payment service provider with the Bank.

How to complete a registration application: A step-by-step guide

October 2, 2024

This supervisory policy aims to help applicants gather the information and documents they need to complete the application form during the initial 15-day registration phase.

Acquisitions of control and prescribed changes

August 21, 2024

This supervisory policy explains how a registered payment service provider (PSP) should assess whether it will be the subject of a planned acquisition of control or a prescribed change.

Amendments to registration applications

October 2, 2024

This supervisory policy explains how applicants should proceed when making changes to the information they provided as part of their application to become a registered payment service provider.

Supervision

Safeguarding end-user funds

February 21, 2024

This draft supervisory guideline is intended to help payment service providers subject to the Retail Payment Activities Act meet their obligations related to safeguarding end-user funds.

Operational risk and incident response

February 21, 2024

This draft supervisory guideline is intended to help payment service providers subject to the Retail Payment Activities Act comply with their obligations related to the identification and mitigation of their operational risks as well as their response to incidents.

Incident notification

February 21, 2024

This draft supervisory guideline explains the incident reporting requirements applicable to payment service providers subject to the Retail Payment Activities Act and provides clarity on how the Bank expects payment service providers to comply with them.

Notice of significant change or new activity

February 21, 2024

This draft supervisory guideline explains the significant change and new activity notice requirements applicable to payment service providers subject to the Retail Payment Activities Act and provides clarity on how the Bank expects payment service providers to comply with them.

Record keeping

April 17, 2024

This supervisory policy outlines what records payment service providers should keep and retain to comply with their record-keeping obligations under the Retail Payment Activities Act and the Retail Payment Activities Regulations.

Prescribed supervisory information

April 17, 2024

This supervisory policy provides an explanation of the prescribed supervisory information provisions and sets out the Bank of Canada’s expectations for payments service providers’ compliance with non-disclosure requirements related to prescribed supervisory information under subsection 64(1) of the Retail Payment Activities Act and sections 37 to 38 of the Retail Payment Activities Regulations.

Enforcement

Administrative monetary penalties

June 17, 2024

This supervisory policy provides an overview of the Bank of Canada’s administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) regime and how the Bank determines administrative monetary penalty amounts.

Enforcement process

June 17, 2024

This supervisory policy outlines the Bank of Canada’s enforcement process and what individuals, entities and payment service providers should expect if the Bank takes enforcement action against them.

Enforcement tools

June 17, 2024

This supervisory policy lists the enforcement tools the Bank could use if enforcement action is needed against individuals, entities and payment service providers.

Issuing public notice of decisions

June 17, 2024

This supervisory policy provides details on the Bank of Canada’s issuing of public notice for certain retail payments supervision and Governor’s decisions.

Governor’s review

June 17, 2024

This supervisory policy describes the Bank of Canada’s Governor’s review process and outlines what individuals, entities and payment service providers should expect if they request a Governor’s review of a retail payments supervision decision.

Roles and Responsibilities of the Executive Director and Managing Director

June 17, 2024

This supervisory policy outlines the roles of the Executive Director of Payments, Supervision and Oversight and the Managing Director of Supervision. It also describes their responsibilities related to the Bank of Canada’s retail payments supervision mandate.

Significant adverse impact

June 17, 2024

This supervisory policy provides an overview of what the Bank of Canada will consider when determining whether a “significant adverse impact” is occurring or has occurred.

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