Konek is a new payment service from Interac that is similar to PayPal. Users can pay for items online securely with their debit, credit, savings, chequing, or line of credit. Currently only available with RBC, National Bank of Canada, BMO, Scotiabank, TD banks. Also, Staples is currently the only merchant that uses Konek, but more is on the way.

https://konek.ca/en/

Canada still relies entirely ​on visa and MasterCard ​for online payments.

Last year interac ​launched KONEK as a checkout platform to let people pay directly from their bank accounts (basically bypassing credit cards using Interac rails), which sounds like a big step toward reducing that dependence.

But rollout seems ​really slow?

It’s been months with barely any updates, and only a handful of merchants seem onboarded so far I’ve only really seen staples which barely anyone uses and is ironically American. For something that could be pretty important for Canada’s payment independence, it feels like it’s barely moved.

Is there something we can do to pressure interac to speed up the roll out and adoption for KONEK

Hey guys, it is going to be my first time in Cork(Ireland in general). I am going to study at UCC. I don’t like to carry around cash much. Thinking of having a digital wallet. So should i go for PayPal or GPay? Based on which is more popular, which is used mostly, which will give me the least problems and which people just like more( if there is any such preference at all!). And just wanted to make sure, there are going to be QR codes right? Like you’re not transferring money from one person to another by taking their phone numbers all the time right?

I have used PayPal out of hesitation for the past decade as an option so I don't have to hand out my credit card (CC) to every online retailer. I checked the alternatives and the only other option accepted was Google Pay. Since, I don't want to hand my CC to Etsy, AliExpress, and individual vendors, I can « choose » Google Pay as the only other option ? How fortunate ? 🙄

I've hesitated, but finally deleted PayPal, as the Honey scandal (I recommend Megalag's videos) was really more well-known by them during the acquisition and was encouraged afterwords. So now, I'm handing more info over to Google, but it's an alternative I've accepted as I feel like it's safer, than individually handing over my CC, no ? I'm Canadian so I have yet to see a better option, would love to hear your thoughts.

What's the better choice specifically for buying online from from places like eBay and things that can't be bought anonymously like flights?

Posting in this group since it relates to your financial institution and important to know what happens if you use this service.

PLEASE share this info with your near and dear ones. Thank You.

So with Black Friday deals happening I came across a deal from Staples.
Get a $50 Staples e-gift card when you spend $150 and check out with KONEK — a new way to pay.
Looked like a steal deal since I was to get something over $150 and this would work great.
Now KONEK is a promoted as a "Safe and secure", "Canadian-made" payment platform is powered by Interac Corp as per their website.
I was about to almost signup when I thought why not read their privacy policy !!!

Was shocked to read what they collect and wondered why should they be collecting this when all I'm doing is just using their payment system.

They will be collecting all your historical Interac transactions and say this is for "Fraud Detection". So if 10 years ago a friend sent me $5 using Interac, KONEK will get and store my friends email, phone, bank account details, their nick name and the message they sent - all without their knowledge just because I choose to use this payment method.
So lets say there is a data breach at KONEK and my friends bank details were compromised and they sue KONEK for the problems faced and for storing their bank details without their authorization, KONEK can turn around and say...your friend "agreed" to share this info.

It seems not only historical but probably future transactions may also be collected.

I wonder did Staples go through KONEK's privacy policy before agreeing to use their payment service?
Ended up using another retailer for getting the item. $50 e-gift from Staples is not worth the deal or the data being shared.

===============================================
See below from KONEK Privacy Policy - Konek

a. Information Collected from Your Financial Institution
When you use KONEK, you are choosing to pay for products and services using existing bank accounts and/or existing debit and credit cards that have been issued to you by one or more banks with which you have a relationship (collectively, “Your Financial Institution”). Your Financial Institution will provide us with the following information:

• client identification number (e.g., eTransferID, FI user reference ID);

  • contact information, including full name, address, email address and phone number;

  • a list of accounts that you are authorized to use for KONEK transactions (i.e., account type and last four digits of each eligible account number);

  • full account number or payment card details (i.e., primary account number and card expiry date) for the account that you select to pay for your purchase; and

  • information about your use of other Interac products and services, including historical transactions via Interac e-Transfer^® and Interac^® Debit online payments, which will be used in connection with KONEK only for fraud detection and prevention, including:

    • Interac e-Transfer sender names, email addresses, phone numbers (if provided) and bank account numbers;

    • Interac e-Transfer recipient names, email addresses or phone numbers (or both), and bank account information;

    • Interac e-Transfer nick names and IP addresses of both senders and recipients;

    • Interac e-Transfer payment amounts;

    • expiry dates of Interace-Transfer transactions;

    • names of the originating financial institutions for Interac e-Transfer;

    • current payment status of Interac e-Transfer transactions and status history of the payments;

    • unique device ID numbers; and

    • all messages associated with Interac e-Transfer transactions.

TLDR: Do not use KONEK payment service since it will capture and store all your historical (and probably future) Interac transactions, names, account details, phone number, bank account numbers, nick names, IP addresses and personal information of both senders and recipients.

Which one has higher odds of being hacked or used in a bad way by scammers

Hi all,

I'm new to internet shopping and I've become aware that entering your physical cc details can be risky, which is why I am opting for electronic payment. However I am unsure which service to choose out of Apple Pay, Google Pay and Paypal.

I will only be using the service for online shopping. I prioritise security, a supportive service that won't freeze/ become unresponsive etc. and won't charge fees for buying.

Out of the many reviews and articles I have read, I am looking to go with Apple Pay. As a second opinion, I was wondering if you guys can confirm if Apple Pay is the way to go.

Thanks.

I have a iPhone and use Apple Pay. I am wondering if I’m missing anything… if there would be possible reasons for me to switch or more likely use Apple Pay and google pay or PayPal. One thing from my research has been that google pay and PayPal can have a bank account directly linked. I can’t really think of the reason or use case of this when mobile wallets already can have debit cards linked. If there is a reason any of you are aware of I’d like to know. Also one source said google pay and PayPal are accepted at more online places. This also I can’t see it as much of a benefit. I don’t know how each service compares with person to person transfers, and the storage of money on these platforms ( I also can’t really think of why this would be of any benefit). If you are a iPhone user and choose to use one of these other wallets instead of or in addition to Apple Pay, please explain why and what use case. Ty

What's the better choice specifically for buying online from from places like eBay and things that can't be bought anonymously like flights?

Hi team,

seeking info on the breakdown of transactions using Shop Pay, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Click to pay etc in 2026?

Reason is we are considering migrating our site to Shopify and looking into the granular details. If we don't migrate we can accept payments via all those other methods but wondering what percentage of users are actually using Shop Pay at the moment.

Any advice or input greatly appreciated!

Hello, so as I said, are there any working google wallet alternatives? As it's quite common occurence recently, my google wallet also stopped working over night, security issues etc. even tho everything's in order... When I searched, I saw people mention samsung pay, apple pay which are really not options for me. And also Revolut or Paypal but neither one can pay using terminals in stores or I'm just blind and cannot find it. I've been using pretty much only virtual cards and I don't wanna pay either for issuing physical ones or for a new phone. Any ideas? I appreacitate every bit of help or information on the matter. FYI phone: Poco F3, place: Europe

Hi team,

seeking info on the breakdown of transactions using Shop Pay, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Click to pay etc for Australian stores?

Reason is we are considering migrating our site to Shopify and looking into the granular details. If we don't migrate we can accept payments via all those other methods but wondering what percentage of users are actually using Shop Pay in Australia.

Any advice or input greatly appreciated!

What's the better choice specifically for buying online from from places like eBay and things that can't be bought anonymously like flights?

Any alts for Google pay

I started the process of leaving Google this week. I want to remove Google emails from my banks. I'm switching to Proton. But I was wondering if there's a better and more secure wallet than Google's.

What's the better choice specifically for buying online from from places like eBay and things that can't be bought anonymously like flights?