Tracey Black to succeed Gerry Gaetz as President & CEO of Payments Canada

OTTAWA, ON–The Payments Canada Board of Directors today announced the appointment of Tracey Black to President and CEO, effective March 1, 2020.

“Tracey joined Payments Canada in 2018 to lead the payments Modernization program. Her leadership, deep payments expertise and industry relationships have driven the program forward and helped foster positive change,” said Eileen Mercier, Chair of the Payments Canada Board of Directors. “Her promotion to the role of President and CEO should give the marketplace great confidence in Payments Canada’s ability to deliver this critical program.”

Prior to joining Payments Canada, Tracey was president of GFH Group Inc., which managed the Canadian Chip Trial Program Management Office supporting the launch of EMV in Canada. She has also held senior positions at TD, RBC and McKinsey & Company, where she was instrumental in the development of Payments Canada’s Vision for the Canadian Payments Ecosystem.

Tracey succeeds Gerry Gaetz, who has been in the role since 2013. The two will work closely together leading up to the end of Mr. Gaetz’ term as President & CEO in March 2020.

“Gerry led the organization during a critical period of time and through monumental change, laying the foundation for modern payments in Canada,” said Mercier. “He oversaw changes to Payments Canada’s governance structure, carved out a strategy to modernize the country’s payments system, tripled the size of the organization to deliver on the strategy, brought the industry together to establish a collective vision and direction for the future and transitioned us from planning to execution. Tracey takes the helm with the groundwork in place for successful delivery of payments Modernization.”

Payments Canada is leading a multi-year industry program to modernize the infrastructure, rules and standards that underpin payments in Canada. These improvements will strengthen our resilience, align with international standards and create a platform for innovation, enabling new and exciting ways for Canadians to pay for goods and services, transfer funds and exchange data about their payments.

“We have an ambitious Modernization agenda, strong industry alignment and the internal capability to deliver,” said Black. “I look forward to leading an excellent team of people and engaging with our members and stakeholders more broadly.”

For more information on payments Modernization in Canada, visit modernization.payments.ca