“[Their] ability to provide advice on complex matters is second to none in Canada. We use a multitude of law firms in Canada for various matters, but Blakes is our go-to law firm for sophisticated matters.”
Client comment, Chambers FinTech 2023
The Canadian payments sector is evolving at an incredible pace, with new products, new technologies, and regulatory and operational challenges impacting payments businesses every day. Our multidisciplinary Payments team stays on top of developments, advising the full spectrum of card, mobile and digital payments industry participants, from innovative market entrants through to the largest payment services providers and financial institutions.
Our team brings together our leading regulatory, technology, transactional, intellectual property, privacy lawyers and litigators with payments and technology expertise. We represent card networks, credit card issuers and merchant acquirers, debit card issuers, gift card issuers, loyalty program providers, and stored value card issuers and service providers, including card processors and distributors (ISOs). The breadth of our experience gives us a deep understanding of the operational and commercial issues that impact payments businesses and the law and regulatory environment. We apply our broad-based knowledge and experience in working with our clients to develop practical solutions to the many complex issues that arise in the payments industry.
Blakes payments regulatory lawyers are in frequent contact with the Canadian federal and provincial regulatory bodies that govern or affect our payment card clients. We advise clients on the current regulatory framework and on any draft legislation and regulatory proposals that may affect them. We also provide legal support to multiple industry associations in the payments industry. This keeps us well informed of the unique challenges facing differing payment and digital transaction businesses.
Our Payments lawyers advise on all aspects of payments business, including in connection with the following:
The establishment, acquisition and divestiture of every type of payments business, including the reorganization work for payment card businesses, program agreements, sponsorship or rent-a-BIN (bank identification number) agreements, partnerships, joint ventures alliance and outsourcing
Negotiating payment-related commercial agreements, including master services agreements with payment networks, payment processors and vendors
Compliance with both federal and provincial consumer protection legislation, guidelines and codes of conduct, including advice with respect to cost of credit disclosure, credit reporting, high-cost credit regulation, electronic transactions, privacy, anti-spam, escheatment and collections practices
Drafting and reviewing cardholder agreements, applications, account statements, privacy statements and other required disclosures and customer communications to ensure compliance with the applicable federal and provincial laws and regulations
Regulatory advice on mobile and emerging payments and compliance with laws applicable to mobile wallets, payment apps, mobile and contactless payments, and tokenization
National and provincial class actions brought with respect to criminal interest rate allegations, payment and posting-date issues, currency exchange rate claims, and alleged violations of consumer disclosure obligations
Much of our commercial and regulatory experience remains confidential, but examples of our recent work include advising:
Global Payments Inc. on its acquisition of the merchant acquiring business and portfolio of 40,000 merchants of Desjardins Group.
PayPal Holdings, Inc. on its US$400-million acquisition of Hyperwallet Systems Inc.
FLEETCOR Technologies, Inc. on its acquisition of Associated Foreign Exchange, Inc. (AFEX), a cross-border payment solutions provider, and Cambridge Mercantile Corp., a business-to-business payments company, for approximately US$650-million.
Large Canadian banks on their negotiations with their payment networks.
Financial institutions on a variety of payments-related agreements, including co-branded credit card program agreements and agreements for mobile wallets.
An international payments processor on its agreements with Canadian credit card issuing banks.
EVO Payments, Inc. on its acquisition of Delego Software, a provider of best-in-class integrated payment solutions for merchants leveraging SAP’s ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions.
Centana Growth Partners, as lead investor, on the C$27-million series B financing of Plooto Inc.
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. on its share purchase of Aequitas Innovations, Inc. (more commonly known as NEO).
Koho Financial Inc. on its C$70-million series C financing led by new investor TTV Capital.
Great Hill Partners on the acquisition of VersaPay Corporation.
