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.
- amended its Criteria for registering payment service providers
- updated its How to complete a registration application: A step-by-step guide
- added further case scenarios
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
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.
Reporting of retail payment activity metrics at registration
This supervisory policy outlines the retail payment activity metrics that payment service providers must report at registration.
Registration application fee
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.