Earlier today, Interac Corp., Canada’s top provider of payment services, announced a key change in its top leadership. Effective August 1, 2023, Jeremy Wilmot will serve as Interac Corp.’s next president and CEO, and also join the Board. This change has been necessitated due to the impending retirement of Mark O’Connell, who has led Interac since 2007. O’Connell will provide advisory support for the transition up until his retirement at the end of October this year.
Interac is a Canadian payments processor and fintech company that has played a significant role in developing e-payments in Canada.
Wilmot joins Interac from ACI Worldwide, another leader in payments and software solutions for real-time payments processing. He most recently served as Chief Product Officer at ACI. Interac mentioned that he has also held the positions of Group President and Chief Marketing & Revenue Officer earlier. Wilmot has managed international teams and businesses with P&Ls totalling US$1.4B over his 30-year career, which has spanned five continents.
“Interac connects the fintech ecosystem and I’m delighted to join a company that is collaborative, innovative and progressive at its core. I look forward to working with the team behind the company’s ubiquitous products and solutions, as well as with our partners and customers, to drive growth and deliver further value in the lives of Canadians.”
Jeremy Wilmot, Incoming President and CEO of Interac
Interac was first established in 1984 as Interac Association, a cooperative venture between RBC, CIBC, Scotiabank, TD, and Desjardins. Interac aimed to connect their network of Interac Automated Banking Machine (ABM) system, today called ATMs. This revolutionized the way Canadians accessed their funds, gradually reducing the reliance on cash and checks.
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Interac transitioned into the digital era under Mark O’Connell
Over the years, Interac expanded its services and introduced new payment solutions to meet evolving consumer needs. It introduced Interac Direct Payment (IDP) in 1994, enabling consumers to make point-of-sale purchases using their debit cards, further promoting the shift towards e-transactions.
One of Mark O’Connell’s achievement has been the restructuring of Interac as a consolidated for-profit entity. In 2018, Interac underwent a significant restructuring process, transitioning from a standalone business and a non-profit association into a single for-profit corporation.
O’Connell was also in charge of the business’ digital strategy, which included the acquisition of 2Keys to expand its tech capabilities for identity verification. The acquisition, which took pace in late 2019, enhanced Interac’s digital ID and commerce play through secure authentication. Under O’Connell, Interac was also chosen to supply the exchange solution for Real-Time Rail (RTR), by Payments Canada in early 2021. RTR will be a national payments processing system when it launches, allowing for quick, information-rich payments. Through RTR, governments and businesses will be able to rapidly conduct high-value transactions with certainty.
“Jeremy is a seasoned leader who has worked on the leading edge of technology and payment innovation in competitive global markets, and his deep experience will serve the company well as it embarks on its next phase of growth. I also want to pay tribute to Mark O’Connell, a remarkable leader who has built Interac into one of Canada’s leading and most trusted financial brands.”
Paul Vessey, Chair of the Interac Corp. Board of Directors
Earlier this month, Interac introduced Interac Verified™, its verification business arm. This is the company’s foray beyond payments and enables Canadians to digitally verify and authenticate themselves.
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