Payoneer announced on October 13 that Payoneer Canada Limited is registered with the Bank of Canada as a payment service provider under the Retail Payment Activities Act (RPAA). I read that announcement next to the Bank’s own pages, and my view is that a registration answers one narrow question. Anyone buying payment services in Canada should ask the other questions themselves.
What the registry says it certifies
The Bank of Canada describes its registry of payment service providers in plain terms. Registered providers “have satisfied the legal requirements to register, such as being in scope of the RPAA and paying the required fees,” and they have cleared a national security screening coordinated by the Department of Finance. The same page adds a sentence that buyers should keep in view: “The Bank does not endorse or license registered PSPs.”
The registry also moves on a timetable the provider does not control. According to the Bank’s key milestones page, the window to apply ran from November 1 to November 15, 2024, and the registry is updated as the Department of Finance completes screenings and passes names to the Bank. Its search columns list a legal name, a main trade name and a head office country. Nothing in that list describes how a provider protects customer money.
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What supervision covers
Registration brings a provider under supervision, and the Bank says that supervision covers three things: whether providers manage operational risks, respond effectively to incidents and safeguard end-user funds. Since September 8, 2025, providers have had to maintain risk management and funds safeguarding frameworks and submit an annual report. The Bank can issue notices of violation, and it says it will publish the provider’s name, the nature of the violation and any penalty.
Payoneer’s release says the company is “among Payment Service Providers (PSPs) that have completed the regulatory approval process under Canada’s new Retail Payment Activities Act (RPAA).” That is a statement about process completed, and the Bank’s pages are consistent with it. The ongoing content of supervision comes afterward and is not visible from the registry.
Payoneer’s own statement fits that frame. Tsafi Goldman, Chief Legal & Governance Officer at Payoneer, said in the company’s release: “Achieving registration under the RPAA marks an important milestone for Payoneer in Canada.” The release says the registration supports its Canadian banking relationships and its local-currency collection capabilities.
The strongest objection
The best argument against my view is that registration is a real filter. A provider that passes a national security screen, pays a fee, and accepts a supervisor with penalty powers has done more than one that ignores the regime, and the Bank’s supervisory framework page warns that operating without an application could bring a notice of violation with a substantial administrative monetary penalty. Bank partners are entitled to treat a registry entry as a floor.
I agree with that, and it is the reason I call the registration a floor. The Bank’s mandate leaves several matters outside it. Its retail payments page says the Bank does not handle “dispute resolution between a PSP and its end users” or “concerns about fees charged by PSPs,” and tells customers to report issues to the provider and then to a provincial or federal consumer protection agency. Disputes and pricing are the two areas the Bank leaves to the provider and its customer.
What buyers should ask
Registration attaches to a named legal entity. For Payoneer the entity is Payoneer Canada Limited, and a customer onboarding with a global platform should confirm which entity holds the contract and the funds. The same question applies to any provider whose group has several regional companies.
Three requests are reasonable in a procurement review:
- A summary of the funds safeguarding framework the provider filed under the RPAA, in whatever form it can share.
- The provider’s incident notification process, including how quickly customers hear about an incident.
- The dispute and fee terms in the contract, because the supervisor will not arbitrate them.
For the wider cross-border picture, see our report that Payments Canada added six members, including Remitly Canada and Nium, and our look at the FedNow cross-border plan.
Procurement teams can use that growth well. Treat each new registration as the moment to ask for the safeguarding summary. A provider that has just completed registration will have its framework documents current and close to hand.
Source: Payoneer via PR Newswire
