Payments Resolutions for 2026: Four Moves to Modernize Your Money Flows

1. Build a Real-Time Payments (RTP) Game Plan

If you’re newer to real-time payments (RTP), think of it as an “always on” upgrade to the payments system. Rather than waiting for the banks to open on Monday, money can move anywhere, in any amount, instantly. 

While RTP isn’t new (tools like Interac e-Transfer® have been supporting instant money movement for years), it’s mostly been used as a peer-to-peer tool in Canada to date. But in 2026, businesses should have their eye on RTP. 

In a recent global study, more than 75% of respondents said that RTP would improve customer experience. Because speed isn’t just convenient nowadays, it directly shapes trust, satisfaction, and cash flow. For businesses, RTP offers faster settlement, lower costs, and reduced fraud and chargeback risk compared to credit cards or wires. Increasingly businesses are using it for online sales, contractor payouts, and supplier disbursements.

This momentum will only grow with the launch of Canada’s Real-Time Rail (RTR), set to launch this year. And the companies that prepare for this shift now will be light years ahead. 

Here’s what you can do to plan ahead: 

• Identify where instant payouts or settlements would create the most value in your business (e.g., contractor payments, refunds, supplier disbursements).
• Review your existing rails, fraud controls, and workflows to see where delays, manual steps, or batch processes still exist and ensure you can support faster movement of funds without increasing risk.
• Start small with a pilot use case to build internal confidence before scaling.

DCPayments supports real-time payment readiness through modern rails, Interac e-Transfer® for business capabilities, and advisory support to help you adopt instant money movement securely. Additionally, DCPayments is already developing to Canada’s RTR and has been confirmed as the only Canadian bank in the first wave of its roll out in 2026. 

2. Modernize Payouts for Employees, Gig Workers & Vendors

Paying people too slowly can really strain your business relationships. Workers want earnings quickly, contractors expect timely payments, and vendors rely on predictable cash flow. Yet many businesses are still operating with payout processes designed for a world where waiting several days (or weeks) was standard.

In 2026, faster, more flexible payout options will become a baseline expectation. Methods like push-to-card, virtual wallets, and instant disbursements via Interac e-Transfer can drastically reduce payout friction while cutting down on administrative follow-up. 

This is also an important moment to revisit your payout mix. If you’re relying solely on traditional EFT or cheque processes, you may be sitting on unnecessary delays, manual reconciliation, and higher operational costs.

Here’s how to get started with this resolution: 

• Review how long payments currently take from initiation to receipt and where bottlenecks occur.
• Identify payout types that would benefit from faster movement (contractors, gig workers, refunds, vendors).
• Introduce faster options to complement your existing methods.

For businesses that need more advanced payout infrastructure, DCPayments’ Card Issuing, Virtual Wallet and Interac e-Transfer® for Business offer secure, automated ways to deliver funds quickly. This can help you streamline disbursements and improve the payment experience for workers and vendors.

3. Expand Acceptance for Digital Wallets

Digital wallets are quickly becoming one of the most common ways Canadians prefer to pay—70% of younger Canadians are using them and would rather leave their physical wallet at home. Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other tokenized payment methods account for a growing share of both in-store and online transactions. 

For businesses, adding digital wallet acceptance can reduce checkout friction, cut cart abandonment, and improve mobile conversion rates. It also strengthens security: tokenized transactions limit the exposure of card data and reduce fraud compared to manually entered card details.

If you haven’t reviewed your acceptance mix lately, 2026 is a smart time to do it, especially as more customers shift toward tap-to-pay or one-tap online checkouts.

Here’s where to get started: 

• Ensure your online checkout or payment links support major wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay. Even many B2B accounting and invoicing tools—such as QuickBooks Online, Xero, or FreshBooks—now allow digital wallet acceptance through integrated payment processors, making it easier to offer faster, low-friction payment options to business customers.
• Review your mobile experience. Wallets often deliver the biggest impact on mobile conversions.
• Simplify checkout flows by reducing unnecessary fields for customers who use one-tap payment options.

DCPayments’ Card issuing and processing as well as acquiring and gateway solutions make it simple to support major digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, giving your customers the fast, secure checkout experiences they expect in 2026.

4. Strengthen Your Fraud & Compliance Controls

Payments are getting faster, but so is fraud. As more money moves instantly and across digital channels, businesses need stronger, more proactive protection to minimize risk. Even small gaps in your process, like weak verification or inconsistent recordkeeping, can create real vulnerabilities.

In 2026, staying protected means going beyond basic ID checks or manual reviews. Faster payments make it important to verify users accurately and to catch unusual behaviour early—whether that’s repeated payment attempts, mismatched devices, or transactions that fall outside normal patterns. Stronger onboarding and monitoring helps you approve legitimate customers quickly while stopping bad actors before losses occur.

Compliance expectations are rising, too. Regulators increasingly expect businesses to have clear policies, documented procedures, and reliable audit trails. Automating parts of this process, such as reporting, monitoring, and recordkeeping, reduces manual work while improving accuracy.

Here’s how to get started: 

• Review your onboarding, verification, and transaction monitoring processes to ensure they’re built for higher-speed payments.
• Add fraud controls that help flag suspicious activity early.
• Automate reporting and recordkeeping to strengthen audit readiness and reduce manual effort.

DCPayments’ Compliance-as-a-Service (CaaS) platform helps businesses strengthen fraud controls, automate monitoring, and simplify compliance as payments move faster. 

Make 2026 the Year You Modernize How Money Moves

Simple, strategic updates to your payments setup can transform how you serve customers, pay workers, and protect your business. Whether it’s adopting real-time rails, offering more flexible ways to pay and get paid, or tightening your fraud controls, the changes you make today will shape your competitiveness tomorrow.

To explore the right next steps for your business, we’re here to help. Get in touch for guidance.