Visa and Square Deliver Faster Transfers to Canadian Businesses

TORONTO, Sept. 26, 2022 /CNW/ - Visa, one of the world's leaders in digital payments, has announced its participation in the Canadian expansion of instant transfers,1 Square's solution for rapid merchant settlement. Square's instant transfers are enabled by Visa Direct, a VisaNet processing capability helping transform global money movement and enables real-time2 funds delivery directly to financial accounts using eligible card credentials."

Square's instant transfers allow businesses to access their funds quicker than the next business day, typically the current default setting for Canadian businesses. With instant transfers, Square merchants can link an eligible debit card and start transferring funds instantly to an external bank account with the click of a button.

"Cash flow management and more immediate access to funds is critical for small businesses to survive and thrive in a rapidly evolving payments ecosystem," said Jim Filice, VP and Head of New Payments, Visa Canada. "Together with Square, we're committed to supporting Canadian small businesses and helping to identify solutions that can benefit them by delivering fast, reliable and secure access to funds."

Getting paid quickly is key for small businesses especially after navigating the challenges of a global pandemic and evolving for the much-changed landscape. About 44% of Canadian small business owners said real-time access to cash flow was important in keeping their business afloat in the wake of COVID-19.3 As the country recovers, over half (53%) of Canadian small business owners say their business is still recovering.4

Even pre-pandemic, the ability to optimize cash flow was critical to the success of small businesses. The majority (79%) of small businesses have cited wanting faster settlement and 81% said they would pay to have this benefit.5 In addition, 85% of small business respondents indicated they would switch to a new merchant acquirer who offered real-time payments.6 Square is solving these needs leveraging Visa Direct to offer real-time deposits to their customers.

"Swift and secure access to money is as important for small businesses as it is to consumers," said Christina Riechers, Head of Product, Business Banking Team at Square. "In a changing and increasingly digitized payments landscape, businesses should be able to access their money as soon as they make a sale, and we're proud to bring that experience to sellers across Canada in collaboration with Visa."

1 Instant transfers require a linked debit card and cost a fee per transfer. Only physical Canadian debit cards with Visa Debit or PLUS network support can be linked to a Square account at this time. Funds are subject to your bank's availability schedule but are generally available in your bank account within 20 minutes of initiating an instant transfer. Minimum amount is $25 CAD and maximum is $5,000 CAD in a single transfer. New Square sellers may be limited to one instant transfer per day of up to $500 CAD.

2 Actual fund availability varies by receiving financial institution, account type, region and whether a transactions is domestic of cross-border.

3 The Visa Back to Business study was conducted by Wakefield Research in 2020, among 250 small business owners at companies with 100 employees or fewer. Separately, the Visa Back to Business consumer portion of the survey was conducted by Wakefield Research in 2020, among 6,000 adults ages 18+. https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/global/run-your-business/documents/visa-back-to-business-study.pdf

4 Visa Back to Business Study 2022. The Visa Back to Business Study was conducted by Wakefield Research in December 2021 and surveyed 2,250 small business owners and 5,000 consumer adults.

5 Visa Funds Disbursements Research, Aite Group survey commissioned by Visa of 154 North American SMB businesses, Q4 2017.

6 Visa Funds Disbursements Research, Aite Group survey commissioned by Visa of 154 North American SMB businesses, Q4 2017.