The world of wire transfers has seen its changes since its inception. With the explosion of mobile phone use globally and the advent of the Internet, there are now dozens of companies out there trying to make it easier to send  money  to Canada (or anywhere else, for that matter).  

Many of the world's leading money transfer services are gaining market share, despite the global economy. Several money transfer companies are striking deals with many of the world's leading banks and financial institutions to allow their users the ability and convenience of using their service right from their local banks. All of this means that as other markets are opening up, traditional money transfer services are looking to banks to capture more market share by offering their services right alongside bank account-to-bank account services that banks already offer.  

How the pre-paid credit card market and Internet based money transfer services will change in the coming years is still unclear. But with the growth of pre-paid credit cards and the fact that more consumers are using pre-paid mobile phones, it is expected that these service will begin to play a larger role in the years to come.  

The push to open technologies that will allow  transfer services through cell phones is already being felt by some banks. The iPhone is so far the only phone that has the ability to store credit card information for purchases in a pay-as-you-go style, but it is expected to expand into other phones with new technologies.  

Traditional money transfer services are not expecting the explosion of new alternatives' to affect the market share until late 2012, at the earliest. After all, even with the global recession many money transfer services are experiencing a booming business.   

Currently, the easiest way to send money to Canada is still through a bank or with the use of one of the other services that have been around for years. These systems are well established and tested. Other new systems of currency transfer or bill paying are still in the development stages. Security should be the only concern for most people when it comes to most of the new technologies, but things are looking positive for the new industry as a whole.   

The next big hurdle for new transfer systems will be getting the international community to finalize the regulation processes. Until the majority of international banks and governments come together and settle on the rules for cell phone and pre-paid credit card transfer, the world will have to still rely on familiar types of wire transfers.   

So if you are trying to transfer to Canada, you will be best served using either a bank-to-bank wire transfer service or one of the other location-based services. Either way, the rules for these services will remain the same; the only difference will be that both of these types of services will be coming together all at one convenient location.