Rambus has confirmed that it is working with Google and Interac Association / Acxsys Corporation (Interac), the organizations behind Canada’s leading payment brand, to enable Interac Debit on Android Pay in Canada. With the Interac Token Service Provider (TSP), which was developed in collaboration with Rambus, Interac Debit customers can make secure mobile debit payments, now using Android Pay, via tokenized transactions.
The Interac TSP is a proprietary token generation and management service that allows financial institutions, merchants and partners to build and manage secure digital payment transactions. This flexibility enables Interac to support a wide array of mobile payment deployment options and adapt to the market’s constantly changing dynamics. Furthermore, the security delivered through tokenization is a critical underpinning of digital transactions, today and into the future.
“We’re excited to bring the simplicity and security of mobile payments to Interac Debit customers with Android Pay,” said Pali Bhat, vice president of Payment Products, Google. “Starting today, people will be able to use their Android device to pay at hundreds of thousands of contactless payment terminals in Canada.”
Debbie Gamble, VP, Digital Product and Platforms, Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation, expressed similar sentiments.
“The launch of Android Pay is another example of how we are working to accelerate the growth of digital payment experiences in Canada through secure, tokenized digital debit transactions,” she explained. “Such accomplishments are the result of innovative technologies and strong partnerships, including our collaboration with Rambus.”
Meanwhile, Chakib Bouda, CTO of the Rambus Payments Division noted that Interac Debit is one of the most popular payment methods in Canada.
“Our collaboration on the TSP will allow millions of consumers to enjoy secure mobile payments using Android Pay in Canada,” he added.
As we’ve previously discussed on Rambus Press, tokenization helps make Android Pay more secure because it doesn’t share payment card numbers with the merchant when consumers pay in stores. Instead, Android Pay uses a virtual account number to represent the card. Essentially, this means tokenized data is worthless if obtained by fraudsters, as it simply acts as a reference for a consumer’s original card data – which only the card networks and/or the consumer’s bank can map back to the original account. Additionally, if a smartphone is ever lost or stolen, consumers can simply use Google’s Find My Device feature to instantly lock the device, secure it with a new password, or wipe it clean of personal information.
*Interac, Interac Debit and the Interac logo are registered trademarks of Interac Inc. Used under license.
Interested in learning more? You can check out our mobile payments product page and our eBook on tokenization below.
