TL;DR: Players can’t use Interac directly on PSN. That makes Loonio—a growing Canadian processor using Interac rails—worth watching. For PlayStation hardware and accessories, Loonio is not currently listed at Walmart, Best Buy or GameStop, though conventional Interac debit works in-store and Konek (currently at Staples.ca) offers another alternative. For Loonio casino options, current availability is concentrated in the Baytree and Cadtree Limited groups (see the brands listed below).
PlayStation spending extends well beyond Sony’s storefront. Canadians also buy consoles, accessories and gift cards from third-party retailers, each with its own checkout options. That matters particularly in a country where Interac is widely used but remains unavailable on the PlayStation Store. This article investigates where else an Interac-based product could fit within the gaming ecosystem.
Loonio is one possible answer—and the subject of this investigation. The Canadian payment platform enables participating merchants to collect and send money through Interac and online banking. Its relevance lies in the retail ecosystem surrounding PlayStation and its established use for casino deposits and withdrawals in iGaming. It also has privacy benefits such as not sharing your own online banking data (and bank-grade security). Let’s look at all sides of that picture.
Where Users Encounter Loonio: Casinos, E-Commerce and Insurance
Loonio is currently used in Canadian e-commerce and announced its expansion into insurance payments in January 2025. It is also an emerging payment option in parts of the Canadian iGaming market.
Across these industries, businesses use the same Loonio payment platform differently:
E-commerce merchants can collect payments from customers.
Insurance businesses can collect premiums or disburse funds.
iGaming operators can offer supported bank-based deposits and withdrawals.
1. Loonio for iGaming: Does It Work at Online Casinos?
Yes. Loonio has appeared at select Canadian iGaming checkouts, giving eligible players another way to move money through an existing bank or credit union account. Many Loonio casinos in Canada are operated by Baytree Interactive Limited and Cadtree Limited, under KGC and AGCO licenses respectively. As a payment gateway, Loonio has become known for fast deposit and withdrawal processing compared to legacy processors such as Gigadat.
Where Canadian Players Can Find Loonio
Although there are now a few dozen Loonio iGaming brands, the following Rest-of-Canada examples were selected for how clearly Loonio is presented at the cashier. This means easier access to Loonio, less clutter, and fewer user errors.
- Spin Galaxy: Supports Loonio for deposits and withdrawals after account verification.
- Grizzly’s Quest: One of the newest brands (May 2025) to offer a Loonio-compatible cashier.
- Gaming Club: Legacy operator with Loonio support for both deposits and withdrawals.
The brands above are not available to players located in Ontario or Alberta. The legal gambling age is 18+ in Manitoba and Quebec, 19+ elsewhere. Regardless of payment method, players are encouraged to wager responsibly. Resources for help include ResponsibleGambling.org.
2. Loonio for Gaming: Does It Work on the PlayStation Store?
No. Loonio and Interac are not listed as direct PlayStation Store payment methods in Canada.
PSU has previously examined the payment options available through PlayStation Store.
Loonio’s possible relevance begins after the player leaves Sony’s storefront. A DualSense Edge, Pulse Elite headset, PlayStation Portal, replacement controller or compatible M.2 SSD can be purchased from an outside merchant. A PlayStation Store gift card can also be bought from a retailer and redeemed later on PSN.
In that situation, the product is PlayStation-related, but the original purchase belongs to the retailer. The retailer, not Sony, chooses the checkout provider. That is the point at which an Interac provider, potentially Loonio, could become involved.
3. Loonio for Gaming Retail: Are There Any Options Yet?
Our review could not find a mainstream Canadian PlayStation retailer publicly confirming Loonio acceptance, at the time of this writing.
To understand whether Loonio has any role in buying gaming hardware or digital credit, we have to zoom out to the broader Canadian banking layer. Because Loonio is built specifically to process Interac and bank-to-merchant transfers, it can only ever exist where a retailer supports domestic bank payments over standard credit cards.
Understanding where an aggregator like Loonio could realistically operate requires mapping how Canadian gamers currently use Interac across third-party electronics retailers.
To test this out, we checked which payment options were available at three major retailers when purchasing DualSense controllers, Pulse headsets, compatible M.2 SSDs, or physical games, and found that they mostly use the standard version of Interac.
| Retailer | Supported Bank / Interac Methods | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Walmart Canada | Interac Debit, Apple Pay, Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit | Interac Debit is supported directly in the Walmart app and online checkout via Apple Pay |
| Best Buy Canada | Visa Debit, Mastercard Debit, In-Store Interac | Online checkout accepts co-badged debit cards; physical stores take standard Interac chip-and-PIN. |
| GameStop Canada | In-Store Interac, Visa Debit | Online storefronts primarily process major cards and store credit; stores support standard Interac tap/PIN. |
A Loonio Alternative for PS5 Accessory Purchases: Konek
Loonio does not currently have a confirmed use case at a major Canadian PlayStation retailer, but a newer alternative demonstrates how this type of bank-connected payment can work in practice.
Konek is a Canadian digital payment solution developed by Interac. At participating online retailers, it allows eligible customers to pay using a connected chequing or savings account, debit card or credit card. Its Interac Direct option enables bank-account payments without requiring the customer to use a traditional credit card.
The key difference for PlayStation owners is confirmed retail availability. Staples.ca accepts Konek and sells PlayStation products, including PS5 consoles, DualSense and DualSense Edge controllers, headsets, charging accessories and PlayStation Portal. Product selection and stock can change, but this provides a practical bank-connected route for buying PlayStation hardware and accessories from a secure bank environment.
What Is Loonio Exactly?
According to the official Loonio website, Loonio allows customers to pay for a purchase or receive money through Interac or online banking.
Customers do not normally preload a separate Loonio balance before making a purchase. Instead, Loonio connects a participating merchant’s payment process with an existing account at a Canadian bank or credit union.
For PlayStation users, the easiest comparison is the payment infrastructure behind a retailer’s checkout button. Loonio is not PlayStation Store credit, a PlayStation Stars reward or an in-game currency. It facilitates real-money transactions between participating businesses and their customers.
Loonio says its service supports more than 100 Canadian banks and credit unions. However, that does not mean every institution, account type or merchant offers the same payment process.
How a Loonio Payment Works
There is no single sequence used by every Loonio merchant. A checkout may use one of several routes.
Interac e-Transfer: The customer sends the specified amount using the recipient and reference details supplied at checkout. Entering the correct reference is important because it connects the transfer with the relevant order or account.
Interac Request Money: The merchant or its payment provider sends a request that the customer reviews and approves through online banking. An unexpected request should be verified independently through the merchant’s official website before approval.
Online-banking authorization: The customer selects a financial institution and eligible account before accepting the requested payment authorization.
Whatever process appears, the customer should confirm the merchant, recipient, amount and transaction reference before authorizing the payment.
Loonio and Interac: Understanding the Difference
Loonio and Interac can appear within the same checkout, but they are not interchangeable.
Interac operates the underlying Canadian payment services. Loonio is a separate provider that participating businesses can use to initiate, route or reconcile supported payments and disbursements.
An Interac logo alone does not prove that Loonio is involved. Customers should identify three separate elements:
The merchant receiving the order.
The provider handling or reconciling the payment.
The payment route used to move the funds.
This distinction is especially important when a bank receipt displays the payment provider rather than the consumer-facing name of the merchant. This happens a lot in iGaming, where instead of seeing Interac, users see a third party company such as “Gigadat” listed.
How to Identify the Payment Processor
The message, reference and recipient fields on a bank receipt can indicate how a transfer was processed, although formats may vary. Use these patterns as clues rather than definitive identifiers:
| Provider or method | Message format | Common recipient |
|---|---|---|
| Gigadat e-Transfer | eXXXXXXX | Usually “Gigadat Inc” |
| Loonio e-Transfer | 01XXXXXXXX | “Loonio.ca” or a corporate name |
| Request Money via either provider | Variable, sometimes CA1Mxxxx | The processor or its corporate entity |
Request Money receipts may not clearly display a separate reference, making the recipient name particularly important.
Using Loonio at Online Casinos? 3 Checks to Run First
Don’t stop at the Interac logo. Open the payment option and look at the gateway behind it. The logo may be generic; the recipient, destination page and message format tell you more. If the provider suddenly looks unfamiliar, back out before authorizing the transfer.
Know whose clock is running. A withdrawal marked “pending” is still with the casino. Once it is marked “processed,” the payment provider takes over. If nothing arrives, don’t guess: save the reference number and ask both sides with the same timestamp.
Check the operator, not just the licence badge. Ontario players should match the casino against iGaming Ontario’s registered-site directory. If a site claims a Kahnawà:ke permit, verify both the operator name and the exact URL on the commission’s permit list. Lookalike domains are common, so type the address carefully rather than clicking through.
Could Bank Payments Fit Gaming’s Microtransaction Economy?
Loonio’s most plausible role in gaming may come one step before the individual microtransaction. Asking players to authorize a bank payment for every cosmetic item or small upgrade would be cumbersome. A single account-to-account payment could instead fund a platform wallet, virtual-currency bundle or season pass. Players could then make several instant purchases from that balance. It is the digital equivalent of visiting the arcade change counter once rather than stopping to pay separately before every game.
This model is not limited to PlayStation. It could work wherever a platform or publisher wallet separates funding from individual purchases. Konek’s Interac Direct model already shows how card-free payments from eligible bank accounts can work at participating Canadian retailers. Loonio could potentially serve a similar purpose if adopted by gaming retailers, publishers or platforms. Neither option is currently available on PlayStation Store, so this is a possible direction for Canadian gaming commerce—not a payment feature PS5 owners can use today.
The Bottom Line
Loonio is not yet available on PlayStation Store, but Canadian players still have practical bank-based options. They can use eligible Interac or debit methods to buy PlayStation Store gift cards from participating retailers, while Konek offers a more direct option for buying PlayStation gear at Staples.ca using connected bank accounts and cards.
Loonio has yet to secure a confirmed mainstream PlayStation retailer, but it already serves other areas: merchant payments in e-commerce, premium collections and disbursements in insurance, and deposits and withdrawals at participating Loonio casinos. Konek shows how Loonio could eventually develop a genuine gaming-retail use case through outside merchants rather than direct PlayStation Network integration.
[Sources – Loonio Insurance Expansion Announcement; Interac’s Konek Launch at Staples (Finextra)]