Darrell MacMullin , Mastercard Canada : Evolving Disbursements & Cross-Border Payments .
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“ I believe we ’ re similar to California when it comes to population size ,” Halder tells us . Indeed , according to the latest estimates , the Golden State has one million more people than the Great White North . “ So that ’ s one state in the US compared with our entire country ,” she adds . Despite the smaller population Canada is ideal to pilot new technology , products or services because Canadians tend to be faster at adopting digital solutions .
From a payments perspective , Canada is in the midst of modernising its payment infrastructure and policies . Halder believes the industry isn ’ t as heavily regulated as other parts of the world – like the UK or Australia – and that the country is influenced by the bigger banks . “ They tend to drive the pace at which we innovate ,” she says . This is similar to other geographies that have a big banking footprint .
“ There is definitely innovation coming out of Canada , but the pace of this innovation and the level of competition is slower , as compared to other G7 countries .”
Oligopolies exist within sectors like telecommunications , internet service providers , hydroelectricity , and of course financial services . Though there is good infrastructure and services in those areas , competition is quite sparse .
This construct finds its roots in Canada ’ s origin as a country . It ’ s in their DNA . The country was a relative early-mover with the
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