What Canadian Lenders Expect from Payments Providers:
A Data-Backed Look

Abstract: Canadian lenders are sharpening their focus on operational efficiency and compliance, and payment processors are no longer just back-end utilities. Based on a national survey of lenders—from fintech startups to established credit providers—the findings reveal a strong demand for tools that reduce manual work, increase transparency, and simplify workflows. Rather than chasing flashy innovation, lenders are prioritizing recurring payments, reporting capabilities, and multi-client access that directly improve day-to-day operations. Processors who embed themselves as true partners in lender workflows will capture the greatest share of this competitive market.

As Canadian lenders scale and adapt to evolving regulatory, operational, and borrower expectations, their reliance on robust, flexible payment processors has never been greater. Based on a national survey conducted among Canadian lending companies—ranging from digital-first FinTechs to established credit providers—this whitepaper outlines the specific features and capabilities lenders expect from their payment partners.

Top Findings from the Survey

• Eighty percent of lenders prioritize Recurring Payments and Bulk Uploads to manage transaction volume and reduce manual workflows.
• Over 60% identified reporting, CSV uploads, and Virtual Terminal usability as essential for visibility and control.
• Fifty-seven percent cited the need for multi-client access and impersonation, especially among B2B platforms and aggregators.
• Interest in Real-Time Payments is rising, with 38% of lenders ranking it among their top five feature requests.
• Fewer than 25% are prioritizing APIs or plug-in integrations—indicating a current focus on efficiency over innovation.

Payment processors who embed themselves into lender operations—offering simplicity, visibility, and flexibility—are the ones most likely to win and retain market share in this sector.

What Canadian Lenders Want: A Data-Backed Look at Payment Processor Expectations

Canadian lenders are at an inflection point. With pressure mounting from both compliance bodies and digital-native borrower expectations, lenders are tightening the seams of their operations. Payments—once treated as a back-end utility—have become a focal point for optimization.

To explore how payment processors can better support this evolution, we surveyed a broad sample of Canadian lenders. Respondents represented leadership roles across Operations, Finance, Technology, and Compliance.

The results tell a clear story: lenders want processors who reduce friction, provide transparency, and understand lending-specific workflows.

Recurring Payments and Bulk Uploads: Still Mission-Critical

Eighty percent of respondents ranked Recurring Payments and Bulk Uploads among their top five features. These are not “nice-to-haves”—they are foundational to how lenders disburse and collect payments at scale. The ability to auto-schedule repayments and upload hundreds of transactions at once is key to keeping overhead low and reliability high.

“We need to upload 1,000+ repayments weekly. If we cannot do that in one go, it is a showstopper.”

Operational Visibility: Reporting and File Compatibility Drive Confidence

Beyond transaction execution, reporting tools and file compatibility emerged as top enablers of internal control and performance tracking.

• Sixty-five percent want easy-to-generate transaction reports.
• Fifty-five percent emphasized CSV/Excel compatibility.
• Fifty-eight percent cited Virtual Terminal usability as essential.

This demand reflects more than convenience—it supports reconciliations, audits, and accountability.

Multi-Level Admin Controls: A Growing Need for Governance

As organizations grow and their teams diversify, the need for granular admin control becomes unavoidable.

• Forty-one percent of lenders highlighted this as a top five need.
• Comments referenced the necessity for “view-only”, “edit”, and “approval” levels of access.
• The need was more pronounced in firms with 10+ employees.

“Our compliance team needs audit trails. If every user has the same access, it is a liability.”

Multi-Client Access and Impersonation: A Common Pain Point

Fifty-seven percent of lenders—particularly aggregators or B2B platforms—cited frustration with the inability to manage multiple clients from a single login or dashboard. This bottleneck is exacerbated by limited impersonation functionality, which could allow platform admins or support reps to resolve issues quickly on behalf of clients without credential switching.

“Having to log in and out of each sub-client account is a huge time waster. We need true multi-tenancy.”

Real-Time Payments: Gaining Ground

Interest in real-time capabilities—particularly Interac Send and Receive—is climbing, even if not yet industry-standard. We followed this trend and recently launched near real-time payments with Interac. Accept/Pay Global Launches Real-Time Payments with Interac

• Thirty-eight percent listed real-time payments in their top five features.
• Use cases cited include emergency disbursements, early wage access, and automated collections.
• Adoption is currently limited, but forward-looking lenders are pushing for it.

“Interac e-Transfers is a game-changer for us in offering instant loan disbursements.”

Efficiency > Innovation: Back to Basics, Not the Bleeding Edge

Despite industry buzz, APIs, white-label plugins, and crypto payouts scored lowest in our survey.

• Only 22% of respondents ranked API integration in their top five.
• Less than 10% considered new plug-ins or crypto capabilities important.
• Respondents are instead focused on onboarding speed, training ease, and reporting clarity.

“We do not need a ‘super app.’ We need clean data, low error rates, and fast support.”

Processors Must Think Like Operators

The message is loud and clear—Canadian lenders want more than technical capabilities. They want payment processors who function as operational partners.

That means:

• Prioritizing bulk tools that eliminate manual labor
• Enabling flexible access models for compliance and efficiency
• Reducing friction with impersonation and multi-client dashboards
• Delivering reporting in formats lenders can work with
• Preparing for a future where real-time is the norm

The most competitive processors will build for how lenders actually work—today and tomorrow.

Key Takeaways

• Recurring payments and bulk uploads remain non-negotiable, with 80% of lenders ranking them essential.
• Reporting, file compatibility, and virtual terminal usability are critical for oversight, reconciliation, and audits.
• Governance tools like multi-level admin access are rising in importance as organizations scale.
• Multi-client dashboards and impersonation remain major pain points, especially for B2B lenders.
• Real-time payments are gaining traction, while flashy innovations like APIs and crypto remain low priorities.