At the Elevate 2025 technology and innovation festival, Interac transformed its booth into an immersive “Interac Village,” a neighbourhood experience to showcase how the use of debit cards supports local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and strengthens the local economy. The activation brought the brand’s “Tap Canadian” campaign to life.

Theresa Wetzel, leader of sponsorship and events marketing at Interac, tells Media in Canada that the goal was to demonstrate how every Interac Debit payment helps small businesses hire employees and reinvest in their communities by allowing them to keep more of their revenue thanks to lower transaction fees.

“The ‘Interac Village’ was designed as an immersive interactive experience for Elevate attendees to engage with our brand, and to highlight the importance of supporting Canadian small businesses,” she says.

The activation, created by The Mint Agency, invited guests to enter through an archway and explore interactive displays featuring everyday businesses, such as coffee shops, retail stores and pet shops, where they could tap icons representing common purchases and reveal the real-time ripple effect of Interac Debit transactions on local SMEs.

According to Wetzel, the experience was more immersive than previous ones, as it guided attendees through a “main street” that visually and emotionally demonstrated how a tap can help small businesses. The target audience, she says, was the 12,000 Elevate attendees, consisting of consumers and small business owners, with the goal of building brand affinity in the marketplace and ensuring that Interac remains the preferred payment method.

“Interac Village” also aligns with the brand’s current positioning, forming part of its “Tap Canadian” campaign, which was launched in August on social media, digital video, OOH, display and SEM, in collaboration with Media Experts. The campaign, which will run until November 6, builds on the brand’s previous “Made in Canada” initiative, which highlighted its local heritage.

“With our sponsorship at Elevate, Canada’s largest tech festival, we knew it was the perfect opportunity to bring our ‘Tap Canadian’ campaign to life,” Wetzel says, explaining that this marks a shift in approach for the company, from highlighting its Canadian heritage since 1984 to emphasizing the benefits of Interac Debit for small businesses.

“We continue to diversify our media spend across on-site activations, OOH ads, paid media and digital advertising. This balanced mix allows us to reach audiences where they are, while maintaining flexibility to adapt to changing behaviours and preferences,” Wetzel adds.

Both the activation and the campaign are based on a public opinion survey conducted by Burson on behalf of the brand this summer, which revealed that 42% of Canadians were unaware that using Interac debit can help small businesses save on transaction fees and retain more money in Canada. The survey also revealed that nearly eight in ten Canadians (78%) have redirected at least one monthly purchase from a big-box or international retailer to a local Canadian business since U.S. tariffs were announced.

Interac debit transaction data, according to Wetzel, also reflects that, for the first time in recent years, SMEs consistently outperformed large merchants in year-over-year volume growth between April and July 2025.