Payments Canada says it has named Susan Hawkins as president and CEO of the organization as it works to finish a long-delayed upgrade to its financial system.
The organization is years behind schedule on getting what’s known as the Real-Time Rail in place, which would allow near-instant payments clearing 24 hours a day, along with other improvements.
Payments Canada originally aimed to have the system in place by 2019. As it stands, Canada is the only G20 country without an upgraded system.
The organization says Hawkins previously worked as global head of enterprise payments and executive vice-president of U.S. payments at TD Bank Group where she played a key role in launching a real-time payments solution.
Hawkins, set to start Aug. 12, also served on the board of Payments Canada from 2020 to 2023 and has been on the board of The Clearing House Payments Corp. since 2019.
She replaces interim co-CEOs Kristina Logue and Jude Pinto, who will return to their respective roles as chief financial officer and chief delivery officer.