Three problems that Canadian merchants keep citing and how Mastercard has built a platform around them.
There was a time when accepting payments seemed like a no-brainer for retailers. The buyer swiped his card, the terminal blinked, and the sale took place.
But trading is no longer simple. Every year, many retailers and other ecosystem participants must keep up with new forms of payment such as digital wallets, evolving cybersecurity and fraud threats, or new trends such as agency commerce.
Mastercard developed its new all-in-one Merchant Cloud platform to help combat these growing challenges by unifying the company's leading services and giving businesses a single place to manage acceptance, security, alternative payments and fraud detection.
“We kept hearing the same message from Canadian merchants: they need to get rid of complexity.”
“We kept hearing the same message from Canadian merchants: they need to get rid of complexity,” said Balinder Ahluwalia, Mastercard senior vice president and head of market development and digital partnerships in Canada. “They wanted a single environment they could trust for payments, security and scale.”
While Merchant Cloud meets the needs of retailers, it is also built for the players behind every transaction, such as banks (who often act as acquirers or issuers), payment service providers (think of a third-party company that allows businesses to accept digital payments), and software providers whose products support commerce.
Here are three areas where Merchant Cloud is looking to improve payments for Canadian businesses.
The stress of fragmented payment systems
Merchant Cloud grew out of Mastercard's conversations with businesses around the world. For example, the company heard from merchants, including those in Canada, that they wanted stronger fraud protection, higher approval rates and fewer chargebacks.
The problem was that each goal often required its own vendor, integration, and maintenance cycle.
“Merchants often use a combination of physical, online and mobile channels,” Ahluwalia said. “Each channel has unique standards and security needs that can create friction that grows as more tools are added to the stack.”
This complex technology stack is expected to become even more complex. By 2029, it is predicted that about 70 percent of global e-commerce transactions will be completed using alternative payment methods such as digital wallets or QR codes. study from Juniper Research.
Merchant Cloud combines Mastercard's payment services into a single cloud platform designed to reduce the operational burden on multiple systems. Instead of assembling separate platforms for ingestion, gateway services, tokenization, authentication, and security, merchants and their partners can connect to one modular environment that manages the infrastructure underlying these tasks.
A scam that hides in plain sight
According to Canadian Anti-Fraud CenterCanadians lost an estimated $645 million to fraud in 2024 and $544 million as of September 30, 2025. As digital commerce becomes more sophisticated, so do attacks. Organizations in the payments ecosystem have begun to notice new threats such as synthetic identity theft, where criminals combine real and fake personal information to create fictitious identities, and card-not-present schemes that involve using stolen card information for remote purchases.
“The most surprising thing for many teams is how sophisticated modern fraud can look. The signals are almost invisible until the damage is done.”
Fraud patterns often change too quickly for merchants to catch on, especially if their payment teams are small.
To solve this problem, Merchant Cloud includes artificial intelligence models that scan large volumes of anonymous transactions to help identify early signals of suspicious behavior. The models adjust risk estimates as fraud patterns change, aiming to provide more consistent approval rates and potentially fewer rejections or chargebacks. Automation also helps merchants maintain consistency in their payment flows with minimal additional work.
“The most surprising thing for many teams is how sophisticated modern fraud can look,” Ahluwalia said. “The signals are almost invisible until the damage is done. This is where real-time models can make a difference.”
Merchant Cloud also integrates tokenization directly into its architecture, giving merchants the ability to reduce risk. This means that sensitive card data is replaced with generated secure tokens.
“Tokenization is not a new idea, but building it into the core of the platform means that merchants will typically no longer have to build their systems around it,” Ahluwalia said. “Thanks to Merchant Cloud, it’s already working.”
Difficulty of going global
International expansion is high on the list of priorities for many Canadian companies. 2024 survey Statistics Canada found that receiving payments from foreign buyers or partners is a difficulty reported by Canadian businesses when exporting.
Because exporting businesses often expand into new regions before establishing local teams, they typically rely on an infrastructure that can adapt to local rules and systems. Merchant Cloud connects merchants with over 240 acquirers worldwide and over 35 payment types. It also offers localized compliance support, helping make international expansion more manageable for companies that need reliable cross-border payment processing.
“We often see companies testing demand in three regions simultaneously,” Ahluwalia said. “They often can't afford three separate payment plans. They need one stable foundation.”
Mastercard plans for the future
Mastercard expects online and in-store shopping to continue to converge, with more people potentially using a wider range of payment methods. As Canadian merchants seek stronger permits and stronger fraud protection, the company sees Merchant Cloud as a system that will help support these changes in Canada.
“Canadian business is growing fast,” Ahluwalia said. “Their payment processors may need help to maintain this momentum. Merchant Cloud is designed to give them room for growth while helping to minimize operational weight.”
Merchant Cloud enables businesses to achieve growth, streamline operations, and stay ahead in the evolving payments landscape. Get started today.
Artistic image courtesy of Blake Vis via Unsplash.
