2020 Canadian Payments: Methods and Trends
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Canadian Payments: Methods and Trends 2020
Canadian Payments: Methods and Trends 2020
Author Notes
Pooja Paturi
Associate Analyst, Market Insights, Research Unit, Payments Canada
Cyrielle Chiron
Head, Research and Strategic Foresight, Payments Canada
A number of organizations assisted Payments Canada by providing data
and information, guidance on assumptions and feedback on this or past
reports. Payments Canada would like to acknowledge the contributions
provided by the following organizations:
Bank of Canada
Interac®
Symcor
Technology Strategies International
Euromonitor International
Leger
Nilson
RFi Group
Statistics Canada
The views expressed in this report are solely those of the authors at the
time of publication and should not be attributed to any of the organizations
listed above.
www.payments.ca
TWITTER @paymentscanada
© Payments Canada 2020 linkedin Payments Canada
® Trademark of Interac Inc. ISSN 2369-3541
CONTENTS
ii Author Notes 37 Appendix I: Detailed Payments Segment Charts
iv Research at a Glance 37 Figure A1: Total Annual CPMT Transactions
1 Executive Summary (Volume and Value)
2 The Point-of-Sale Environment 37 Figure A2: All Payment Methods Annual Totals
3 The Remote Payments Environment 38 Figure A3: Average Transaction Size
4 Methodology 38 Figure A4: All Payment Methods Average Annual
5 The Payments Landscape Growth Volume (One, Five and 10 year CAGR)
6 Findings 39 Figure A5: All Payment Methods Average Annual
6 Five-Year Canadian Payments Growth Value (One, Five and 10 year CAGR)
Transaction Trends 39 Figure A6: Percentage of Businesses Using
7 Year-over-Year Canadian Payments Payments Methods
Transaction Trends 40 Figure A7: Bill Payments Heat Map
8 The Payments Environments 41 Appendix II: Methodology, Definitions and
8 The Point-of-Sale Environment Segment Descriptions
9 Cash 41 Methodology
11 Debit Cards 42 Definitions and Segment Descriptions
12 Credit Cards
13 Prepaid Cards
14 Contactless Payments (via card
and mobile devices)
16 The E-commerce Environment
18 The Remote Environment
19 Cheque and Paper Items
20 Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
20 Online Transfers
22 Featured Analyis A: Online Transfers as the
New Peer-to-Peer Standard
25 Remote Consumer Transactions
28 Featured Analysis B: Bill Payments in Canada
33 Remote Commercial Transactions
34 Business Payments
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C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 iii
RESEARCH AT A GLANCE
A look at how payments trends
point to surge in electronic
payments in Canada
In 2019, the total payments market in Canada grew
to 22 billion consumer and business transactions
worth $9.9 trillion.
Key themes:
More Canadians embrace
Overall, cheque volume decreased by
electronic payments to 12 per cent and seven per cent in value
replace cheque and cash use. from 2018. Of note, consumer cheque
usage dropped nearly 30 per cent over
Cheques on Page 19 the past five years
Cash on Page 9 Cheques remain pertinent for
commercial transactions, making up
more than 40 per cent of commercial
transaction value.
Over the past five years, cash volume has
decreased 38 per cent, mostly losing volume
to card payments.
Contactless payments
continue their exponential Contactless payments grew 15 per cent in
volume and 20 per cent in value from 2018.
growth, making up a third of
Consumers continue to substitute cash
all point-of-sale transactions. transactions with contactless debit and
credit “tap” transactions.
Contactless payments on page 14
Mobile and wearable contactless adoption
continues to grow as more Canadians
embrace mobile wallet use.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 iv
EFT continues to dominate EFT transactions continue to be used
payments in value, making for high value transactions, shown by a
up over 50 per cent of total six per cent increase in value from 2018.
This further points to the migration of
payments value. paper cheques to electronic substitutes
for commercial transactions.
EFT on page 20
Consumer use of EFT also continues to
Business payments on 34 grow as consumers adopt pre-authorized
debits (PADs) for bill payments and
recurring payments.
Online transfers continue Online transfers have become the key
their explosive growth with facilitators for peer-to-peer transactions
around 30 per cent growth at the expense of cash and cheques.
in volume and value. Online transfer service providers continue
to innovate with faster and more convenient
features to meet consumer and commercial
Online transfers on 20
payments needs.
Featured analysis on 22
Credit cards show Credit card transactions grew 16 per cent
significant growth at the in volume from 2018, marking the biggest
POS, and became the most jump in credit card usage over the past
five years.
used POS payment method
Canadian use of credit cards has been
for the first time in 2019. historically high and the growing
e-commerce market continues to
Credit cards on page 12 contribute to high credit card use.
The impact of COVID-19 on
Canadian payments trends.
The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply impacted the global payments industry in early 2020, as millions
of businesses and consumers began to shift their payments behaviour. Payments Canada started to see this
shift in new data from a Payments Canada study on payment trends during COVID-19 released earlier
this year. The annual Canadian Payments: Methods and Trends report is a point-in-time account of payments
in Canada. The 2020 report remains focused exclusively on 2019 payments methods and trends and does not
reflect any impacts of COVID-19 on payments behaviour.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 v
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Canadian economy depends on the exchange of hundreds of billions of dollars each day. Payments Canada is
responsible for operating Canada’s clearing and settlement infrastructure, and defining the processes and rules required
to support the infrastructure. As the owner and operator of the Automated Clearing and Settlement System (ACSS) and
Large Value Transfer System (LVTS), Payments Canada plays a vital role in the Canadian financial system.
Every year, Payments Canada provides an overview of the payments trends observed in Canada through the publication
of the Canadian Payments: Methods and Trends (CPMT) report. The main objective of the CPMT report is to provide a holistic
view of the payments market in Canada. This overview of payments behaviour and trends illustrates Canadians’ use of
different payment methods, and demonstrates shifts in payment behaviours.
From 2018 to 2019, the payments market in Canada grew by one per cent in value from $9.8 trillion to $9.9 trillion, and by
four per cent in volume from 21 billion consumer and business transactions to 22 billion transactions. When compared
to the data from the previous five years, we observed a significant rise in the volume and value of electronic payment
methods, accompanied by a widespread shift away from paper-based payment methods. This shift away from paper
payment methods is expected to continue.
In 2019, debit and credit cards continued to make up the largest portion of total transaction volume (28 per cent and
31 per cent respectively), while electronic funds transfer (EFT) and cheque transactions still dominated the transaction
value (52 per cent and 36 per cent respectively) as seen in Figure 1. For the first time in 2019, credit card use exceeded
debit card use. Commercial use of EFT continued growing at a steady pace. Consumer cheque use declined by nearly
six per cent, with corporate use of cheque declining 15 per cent from 2018. Even with declining use, the average cheque
value increased by five per cent to $6,142, demonstrating that cheques remain an important payment option for large
value payments. Emerging payments methods, like contactless payments, online transfers and e-commerce, continue to
grow as Canadians’ payments needs evolve.
In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic began to impact the payments market in
i Canada in profound ways. However, this report focuses exclusively on 2019 and
will not reflect any impacts of COVID-19 on payments behaviour.
2 0 2 0 C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 1Figure 1: 2019 Total Payment Transaction Volume and Value1
2019 Volume 2019 Value
ABM 0.7% 8%
Online Transfer
2.5% 563% ABM 2.1% 25% Cash 0.9% 26% Prepaid Card 0.2% 61%
Cheque and Paper Prepaid Card 1.5% 64% Debit Card 2.6% 21% Online Transfer 1.8% 463%
2.6% 39% Credit Card 6.2% 47%
Credit Card
31.1% 62%
EFT 13.4%
19%
22B $9.9T EFT
51.8% 39%
Cash 18.4%
38%
Cheque and Paper
Debit Card
35.9% 9%
28.4% 27%
Canadians transact in two very different environments: the point-of-sale and the remote payments environments.
The Point-of-Sale Environment
The point-of-sale (POS) environment includes transactions that take place in either physical or virtual payee locations
(i.e., brick and mortar merchants or online vendors), including in-app and other e-commerce transactions. POS payments
account for 82 per cent of the total Canadian transaction volume, but only 10 per cent of the total transaction value. POS
volume consists of consumer-initiated payments. The POS environment continues to be shaped by Canadians’ preference
for fast and convenient payments.
The following changes were observed from 2018:
Table 1: Point-of-Sale Year over Year Growth (Volume and Value)
2018 Volume 2019 Volume Change 2018 Value 2019 Value Change
Payment Method in Millions of Transactions % in Millions of Dollars %
Cash 4,467.0 4,065.0 -9.0% 92,096.0 85,649.0 -7.0%
Debit Card (total) 2
6,050.0 6,256.0 3.4% 255,600.0 259,255.0 1.4%
Debit Card (contactless only) 3
2,370.0 2,440.0 3.0% 45,300.0 46,666.0 3.0%
Credit Card (total) 4
5,346.0 6,207.4 16.1% 499,105.1 556,714.4 11.5%
Credit Card (contactless only) 1,750.9 2,280.6 30.3% 84,569.0 110,153.8 30.3%
Prepaid Card 304.0 328.7 8.1% 18,155.2 19,237.0 6.0%
ABM 5
499.0 466.1 -6.6% 68,216.6 67,082.0 -1.7%
TOTAL 16,666.0 17,323.2 3.9% 933,172.9 987,937.4 5.9%
1 The arrows represent the growth and decline of the key payments methods between 2014 and 2019.
2 Debit card totals include all transactions (i.e., POS, card on file, in-app,contactless, and online).
3 A contactless payment is a method for consumers to purchase products/ services using RFID technology for near-field communication (NFC); also referred to as “tap to pay”.
4 Credit card totals include all transactions (i.e., POS, card on file, contactless, and online) except for remote credit card transactions.
5 ABM transactions are used to obtain cash, where the cash is used for actual payments.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 2The Remote Payments Environment
Remote transactions include all the transactions that are not made at physical (brick and mortar) and virtual (online) payee
locations. Instead, payors use financial institutions or payment service providers as intermediaries that move funds to
intended payees through their services. These transactions represent 90 per cent of the total Canadian transaction value,
but only 18 per cent of the total volume. Remote payments value is high because it consists of many large commercial
payments as well as income and benefit payments to households. Payment instrument choice for remote payments is
driven by a need for wide acceptance, security and convenience.
The following changes were observed from 2018:
Table 2: Remote Year over Year Growth (Volume and Value)
2018 Volume 2019 Volume Change 2018 Value 2019 Value Change
Payment Method in Millions of Transactions % in Millions of Dollars %
EFT 6
2,846.0 2,947.0 3.5% 4,889,626.6 5,178,683.0 5.9%
Cheque and Paper (total) 667.0 583.9 -12.5% 3,891,136.0 3,586,221.0 -7.8%
Cheque (personal) 205.2 194.0 -5.5% 79,750.0 76,375.0 -4.2%
Cheque (commercial) 7
461.8 389.9 -15.6% 3,811,386.0 3,509,846.0 -7.9%
Online Transfer 397.0 540.6 36.2% 134,769.7 178,224.9 32.2%
Remote Credit Card 8
590.7 685.9 16.1% 55,149.7 61,515.4 11.5%
TOTAL 5,168.0 5,341.2 3.36% 12,861,818.0 12,590,865.3 -2.1%
6 EFT transactions include direct deposits, pre-authorized payments and online bill payments made from deposit accounts.
7 The inclusion of SET (Settlement and Exchange) cheque transactions, which are intraday movements of funds by financial institutions, inflate the overall value of cheques significantly.
8 Credit cards are predominantly used in POS environments. However, they can also be used in the remote environment to pay for bills, including memberships, subscriptions, insurance
and utilities.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 3METHODOLOGY
Payments Canada works closely with payment service
providers, payment consultants and researchers to
compile a comprehensive 2019 data set and provide
insights as to how Canadian consumers and businesses
pay. The general methodology involves a combination
of industry data and market research.9 Industry data
are derived primarily from ACSS (Automated Clearing
and Settlement System) data, industry payment card
use data, and experts.10 Data was also collected from
payment service providers and payment networks on
an aggregated annual basis, based on actual payment
instrument use data. Market survey research is used to
fill data gaps and to provide detailed insights.
The report compares data collected from 2019 with
data from previous reports, allowing for ongoing
analysis of trends. In the following sections, 2014 and
2019 data are compared to understand how payments
trends have evolved.11 Year-over-year comparisons
(2018 to 2019) are also considered.
Securities and derivatives transactions and trades
are excluded from the research.12 Payments types
that have not reached significant volumes are also
excluded. This includes payment methods that are
less than one per cent of total transaction volume or
value (such as virtual currencies).13 Finally, LVTS (wire)
transactions are excluded as they would warrant a
form of double counting as the payments volume and
value information in this report is derived from the
clearing data.14
9 Appendix II includes details on methodology and assumptions, including consumer and
business survey market research methodologies.
10 The CPMT also includes value transactions that may not specifically be used for the
exchange of goods and services. For instance, ABM transactions are used to obtain cash,
where the cash is used for actual payments. Both types of transactions fall within the
scope of this research, as each forms an important element of the Canadian payments
market. Payments Canada recognizes how this might pose as a form of double counting.
11 To view older reports, please see: Canadian Payment Methods and Trends: 2019.
Payments Canada Discussion Paper No. 9. December 2019. Canadian Payment Methods
and Trends, 2018, Payments Canada Discussion Paper No. 8, December 2018. Please
note that certain methodologies for data collection were updated over the past two years
when directly comparing figures from older CPMT reports to figures presented here.
12 When a payment is made to purchase investments, the transaction will be counted
among the appropriate payments segments. When derivatives, securities and other
assets are exchanged and no payment is required or results, the exchange of value
is not included.
13 Only seven per cent of adult Canadians have ever used a virtual currency. For more
information about consumer familiarity and likelihood to use Bitcoin, please see the
results of the 2019 Bitcoin Sentiment Tracker by Payments Canada.
14 For analysis on LVTS, please see Payments Canada’s Annual Report.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 4THE PAYMENTS LANDSCAPE
The Canadian payments ecosystem continues to be
influenced by domestic and international innovation,
payment system modernization and regulators’
efforts to define the payments industry of the future.
Canadian consumers and businesses have made it
apparent that when it comes to payments, efficiency
and convenience are vital.
In order to create more convenient opportunities for
business payments, Payments Canada introduced a
third Automated Funds Transfer (AFT) exchange
window and two hour funds availability in 2018. This
provided Canadian businesses with expanded access to
AFT payments.15 In 2019, the AFT exchange saw a shift
in volumes as businesses took advantage of the third
exchange, especially businesses in Western Canada.
Regulators continued to work towards creating
comprehensive policies that address the evolving
payments ecosystem. The Federal Retail Payments
Oversight Framework (RPOF) was created to enhance
customer financial protection and to provide additional
opportunities for Payment Service Providers (PSPs)
to innovate within the payments sector.16 In 2019,
RPOF moved forward as an official initiative in the
federal government’s budget to oversee new payment
services providers and outline their roles in the
payments ecosystem.17
The Department of Finance released a report on
their ongoing open banking consultation, indicating
further development of a framework for open
banking (referred to as “consumer-directed finance”)
in Canada.18 The Senate of Canada also released an
open banking report with recommendations that
address consumers’ rights to their banking data and
accompanying financial protections.
15 For more, please see: https://www.payments.ca/about-us/news/payments-industry-
delivers-next-milestone-modernization-journey-faster-more-convenient.
16 For more, please see: https://www.payments.ca/about-us/news/payments-canada-
response-department-finance-canadas-consultation-new-retail-payments.
17 For more, please see: https://www.budget.gc.ca/2019/docs/plan/toc-tdm-en.html.
18 For more, please see: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/programs/
consultations/2019/open-banking/report.html.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 5FINDINGS
The sections below build on a number of different data streams in order to provide a comprehensive view of consumer and
business payment behaviour conducted at the point-of-sale payments environment and the remote payments environment.
Five-Year Canadian Payments Transaction Trends
In 2019, the Canadian payments market consisted of 22 billion transactions, worth around $9.9 trillion. Since 2014, the
total payments market has increased by an average of one per cent per year in volume, and an average of five per cent
per year in value (Table 3).19
The average annual rate of inflation in Canada is 1.7 per cent over the past five years.20 Between 2014 and 2019,
Canadian household consumption expenditure grew at 4.4 per cent per year,21 which points to increased spending by
Canadians.
One of the most significant shifts between 2014 and 2019 was the decline in paper based payments. Cash transaction
volumes declined by 38 per cent over the five year period, with many cash transactions at the POS migrating to card
payments. Debit and credit cards now make up 28 and 31 per cent of total payments volume, respectively. Credit cards
have demonstrated substantial growth, with a 62 per cent increase in volume relative to 2014 (for more on credit card
growth, see the credit card section). This growth is driven, in part, by increased e-commerce volumes and merchant
acceptance of contactless payments.
EFT and cheque transactions together represent just over 15 per cent of total transaction volumes and 87 per cent of
total payment value. Since 2014, there has been a continuing shift away from cheques and sustained growth in EFT
volumes and values.
Table 3: All Payment Methods Annual Totals
Total Volume 2014 Total Volume 2019 Change Total Value 2014 Total Value 2019 Change
% of % of
Payment in % of Total in % of Total Total Total
Method Millions Volume Millions Volume % $ Millions Value $ millions Value %
Credit Card 4,230.0 21.1% 6,859.0 31.1% 62.2% 418,358.3 4.9% 615,154.4 6.2% 47.0%
Debit Card 4,907.0 24.5% 6,256.0 28.4% 27.5% 214,340.2 2.5% 259,255.0 2.6% 21.0%
Cash 6,583.0 32.8% 4,065.0 18.4% -38.3% 116,366.0 1.4% 85,649.3 0.9% -26.4%
EFT 2,476.0 12.3% 2,948.0 13.4% 19.1% 3,732,905.4 43.8% 5,178,683.0 51.8% 38.7%
Cheque
and Paper 950.0 4.7% 583.9 2.6% -38.5% 3,925,570.2 46.1% 3,586,221.0 35.9% -8.6%
Online
Transfer 81.5 0.4% 540.6 2.5% 563.3% 31,678.4 0.4% 178,224.9 1.8% 462.6%
ABM 623.0 3.1% 466.0 2.1% -25.2% 72,799.5 0.9% 67,082.0 0.7% -7.9%
Prepaid Card 200.0 1.0% 328.0 1.5% 64.0% 11,934.6 0.1% 19,237.1 0.2% 61.2%
TOTAL 20,050.5 100% 22,046.5 100% 8,523,952.6 100% 9,989,506.7 100%
19 Please see Appendix I for a historical overview of the payment method average transaction sizes.
20 Inflation refers to the rising cost of goods and services, which can reduce overall purchasing power. Please see: https://tradingeconomics.com/canada/inflation-cpi.
21 Statistics Canada, Household Consumption Expenditure 2019.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 6Year-over-Year Canadian Payments Transaction Trends
The following analysis includes a look at the year-over-year changes, comparing the 2019 data to the 2018. This perspective
allows us to identify if trends observed in previous years are continuing, and the emergence of potential trends.
Overall, electronic payments continued to grow while paper-based payments declined.22 Credit cards have seen a
significant gain in volume and value, growing 16 per cent in volume and 11 per cent in value relative to 2018. This is due
to the continued growth in e-commerce transactions, including in-app payments, for which credit cards are the primary
instrument used, and the increasing use of credit cards for bill payments.
Online transfer transaction volumes continue to grow at an exponential rate as more consumers and businesses rely
on online transfers to send funds (see more in our feature Online Transfers as the new P2P Standard).23 Despite
significant growth in volume, online transfers represent 2.5 per cent of total payments volume and 1.8 per cent of
total payments value. 2019 marks the first year in the past decade where online transfers grew by less than 40 per
cent in volume and value.
EFT continued to grow in 2019 with a six per cent increase in value relative to 2018. The steady increase in EFT and an
accompanying decline in cheques could indicate that there are more Canadian consumers and businesses switching to
electronic methods of payments for high value transactions.
Figure 2: Volume and Value Growth Year-over-Year (2018-2019)
40%
36.1%
32.2%
30%
20%
16.1%
11.5%
10% 7.8%
5.9% 5.9%
3.4% 3.5%
1.4%
0%
-1.6%
-10% -7.8% -6.6% -7%
-9%
-12.4%
-20%
Cheque Debit ABM Prepaid EFT Credit Online Cash
and Paper Card Card Card Transfer
Volume YOY Value YOY
22 Electronic payments include debit cards (co-badged debit included), prepaid cards, EFT, credit cards and online transfers. Paper-based payments include cheques, paper, ABM and cash.
23 Online transfers include Interac e-Transfer transactions and qualifying PayPal transactions.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 7THE PAYMENTS ENVIRONMENTS
Canadians conduct payments in two distinct payments environments that support different use cases and payment options.
The point-of-sale (POS) environment includes cash, prepaid, debit and credit card transactions. The POS environment
is dominated by consumer payments, and is where Canadians spend and transact for their daily purchases. In 2019,
POS payments accounted for 82 per cent of the total Canadian payments volume and around 10 per cent of the total
transaction value.24
The remote environment includes cheques, EFT, online transfers (electronic account-to-account transactions) and credit
card transactions for bill payments and ongoing subscriptions. The remote payments environment is dominated by
payments initiated by commercial payers, such as businesses paying each other and employees, and government benefit
payments. In 2019, remote transactions represented around 18 per cent of the total volume and 90 per cent of the total
transaction value.25
The Point-of-Sale Environment
In 2019, there were 17.7 billion POS payments worth over $985 billion.26 In the last five years, POS volume has
increased by a total of five per cent, while POS value increased by almost 25 per cent (see Figure 3). We can continue
to attribute this growth in POS volume and value to the increase in electronic payments use, especially the use of
cards. Consumers show a preference for using debit and credit cards for their POS transactions as they remain the
most used payment methods in terms of volume. Merchants now have easier access to electronic POS transaction
systems (i.e. systems provided by Square, Shopify) that are simple to use and require relatively little investment.
Businesses are able to broaden payments method acceptance and extend reach to include e-commerce to address
consumer demand for electronic payments.
Figure 3: POS Historical Volume and Value
POS Volume (in millions) POS Value (in millions)
7,000 600,000
6,000
500,000
5,000
400,000
4,000
300,000
3,000
200,000
2,000
1,000 100,000
0 0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Debit Card Prepaid Card Credit Card Cash
24 These proportions are similar to 2018 where POS payments accounted for 78 per cent of total transaction volume and ten per cent of total transaction value.
25 Please see Appendix I for more details on remote transactions. These proportions are similar to 2018, where remote transactions made up 22 per cent of total transaction volume and
90 per cent of total transaction value.
26 For the purposes of this analysis, the POS includes both physical and virtual merchant locations, including online and in-app transactions.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 8The ongoing shift to electronic payments is crucial when discussing the evolution of the POS environment. Research
shows that consumers and businesses perceive electronic payment methods to offer convenience, speed and rewards,
which drives use of these methods over traditional paper-based methods. Additionally, new technologies are increasingly
allowing for payments to be processed in a number of new ways from smart home assistants to video games. In 2019,
15 per cent of Canadians made purchases via gaming consoles and home assistants like Google Home27, and the
increased access to payments through new channels will also continue to fuel the growth of electronic payments.
CASH
2019 Highlights
• Even though cash transactions have declined • Cash transaction values decreased by seven
significantly over the past decade (mainly due per cent from 2018, to represent eight per cent
to high adoption of credit and debit cards), cash of the total POS payments value (in comparison
was still a popular payments method in 2019. to 15 per cent in 2014).
• The average cash transaction was $21. • The key drivers for using cash to pay
• Cash transaction volumes decreased by nine a business are speed and ease of use,
per cent from 2018, to represent 22 per cent followed by convenience (the consumer
of the total POS payments volume in 2019 having cash/coins on hand) and low
(in comparison to 39 per cent in 2014). value transactions (transactions being
under $15).
In 2019, there were a total of four billion cash transactions, worth $85 billion.28 Cash accounted for around 22 per cent
of the total volume of all POS transactions and about eight per cent of POS transaction value. Cash volume has dropped
around 38 per cent since 2014, mainly losing volume to card payments, as expansion of debit and credit contactless
payments have replaced cash intensive use cases.
Despite its decline, cash is still a common payments method: 61 per cent of consumers reported making a cash purchase
to a business in the past seven days.29
Around 15 per cent of Canadians use cash for more than half their transactions, strongly preferring it to electronic
payment methods. Cash use continues to be buoyed by those who engage in the underground economy, using cash
primarily for its anonymity and universal acceptance.30 Thirty per cent of consumers who use cash on a regular basis31
receive at least some part of their monthly income or compensation for employment in cash or coins, which drives
their likelihood to use cash for payments. Notably, 88 per cent of those who received some part of their income in
cash are Canadians aged 18-34, or had an annual income of less than $59,000. Even though younger Canadians are
more likely to use technology-based payments, they make up over a quarter of regular cash users. Younger generations
(18-24) often have lower incomes and a tendency to be underbanked, which can increase their reliance on cash.32
27 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey.
28 For cash figure estimate sources, please see Appendix II.
29 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey.
30 According to Statistics Canada, the underground economy grew to $61.2 billion in 2018 (the last year figures were available). It is assumed that cash is one of the main contributors to the
underground economy. The three industries that accounted for more than half of underground economic activity include: residential construction, retail trade and accommodation and food
services. For more information on the underground economy, please see https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/181012/dq181012a-eng.htm.
31 Regular cash users are defined as those who used cash more than once in the past seven days.
32 Underbanked refers to those with limited engagement with established financial institutions. Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 9The most popular drivers of cash usage are speed and ease of use. These drivers are closely followed by the desire of
Canadians to spend cash and coins that are on hand. They also use cash if the transaction is of low value (under $15)
and if the business only accepts cash (Figure 4, below, illustrates why consumers used cash at the POS). When looking
at cash usage, it is also important to understand merchants’ behaviour. Like consumers, merchants perceive cash to
be fast and convenient to use. They also perceive cash to be the cheapest payments method to accept and, while they
have expanded payment options to meet consumer demand, smaller businesses might still favour cash, particularly
for smaller transactions.33 Businesses perceive cash to provide instant liquidity with none of the fees that are generally
associated with accepting card payments.34 The near-universal acceptance of cash explains current cash-intensive use
cases, such as payments to a person for services (e.g., paying for home services such as cleaners), or making donations.
Figure 4: Reasons for Using Cash to Pay a Business35
Fast or easy 42%
Had cash or coins I wanted to spend 40%
Transaction was under $15 32%
Person/business would only accept cash 18%
Cash helps me manage my spending 16%
Anonymous or safe 9%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
33 Bank of Canada. 2017, Merchant Acceptance of Cash and Credit Cards at the Point of Sale.
34 Ibid.
35 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 10DEBIT CARDS
2019 Highlights
• Debit continues to be highly used at the POS. • Debit cards increased slightly in value to
In 2019, around 94 per cent of Canadians had represent 28 per cent of the total POS value
a debit card. (compared to 30 per cent in 2014). However,
• The average debit transaction was $41. debit share of POS volume has decreased
as credit card share of the POS increased
• Debit cards increased over three per cent in significantly in 2019.
volume from 2018, to represent 37 per cent of
the total POS volume (compared to 33 per cent • Forty-eight per cent of all debit transactions
in 2014). were contactless. Most contactless payments
were made by tapping a card, followed by
mobile payments.
Debit card36 use continued to grow in 2019, making up 37 per cent of total POS volume and 28 per cent of POS value.
Over the past five years, debit cards have been steadily increasing in terms of volume and value, though growing slowly
relative to credit cards. Debit and credit have similar shares in POS volume (37 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively),
however debit value trails behind credit value at the POS (28 per cent vs. 61 per cent), indicating more frequent use of
debit cards for low-value transactions. The increased use of debit contactless transactions (discussed in detail in the
contactless section) fuels low-value debit purchases and is a significant contributor to the decline of cash use. The
average debit card transaction sits around $41 while the average credit card transaction is around $90.37
Co-badged debit cards are also being used extensively for e-commerce transactions. Around 58 per cent of all debit
cards in circulation are co-badged cards that integrate debit alongside Visa or Mastercard.38 In 2019, nearly 20 per cent
of e-commerce transactions in Canada were made using a co-badged debit payment.39 While there are other debit-based
alternatives for e-commerce (i.e., PayPal and Interac Online), consumers show a preference for co-badged debit cards
primarily due to wide acceptance by online merchants and the security associated with Visa and Mastercard branded
products through their widely established “zero-liability protections” (explored in detail in the e-commerce section below).40
36 Debit cards include all debit card transactions; for example, contact and contactless (including card and mobile) payments, Interac Debit In-App and Interac Online Payments.
37 The number one reason stated for switching from a debit card payment to a credit card payment was that the consumer wanted to collect more rewards. TSI Canadian Payments Forecast, 2019.
38 Ibid. Co-branded cards refer to collaborations between Interac and Visa or Mastercard. When used at the physical POS, the cards use the Interac debit rails while offering e-commerce capabilities
through Visa or Mastercard rails.
39 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey.
40 Both Visa and Mastercard Interac co-branded debit card products offer zero-liability policies that absolves consumers from the responsibility of unauthorized payments.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 11CREDIT CARDS
2019 Highlights
• Credit card transactions exceeded debit • Credit card transaction volumes increased
transactions in terms of volume and value by 16 per cent from 2018, to represent
for the first time in 2019. This is mainly due 38 per cent of the total POS payments volume
to credit card rewards and the growth of (compared to 26 per cent in 2014).
e-commerce in Canada, where credit cards • Credit card transaction value at the POS
are the preferred method of payment. increased by 11 per cent from 2018, to
• The average credit transaction was $90 represent 61 per cent of the total POS
at the POS. payments value (compared to 54 per cent
in 2014).
Credit card POS transaction value is more than all other POS payment methods combined, accounting for 61 per cent
of total POS value. Credit cards41 are extremely popular in Canadian payments: in 2019, the number of credit cards in
circulation rose by five per cent,42 and 89 per cent of Canadians reported having a credit card.43 Relative to 2014, credit
card volumes and values have grown 10 and eight per cent, respectively.44
2019 marks the first year that credit cards became the most used instrument at the POS. The key drivers for credit card
usage among Canadians are associated reward and loyalty programs. In 2019, 78 per cent of credit card holders have
some type of reward associated with their card (most likely cashback or travel rewards).45 Credit cards are also the most
widely used payments method in e-commerce, which has seen exponential growth over the past few years (explored in
detail in the e-commerce section below).
Credit cards are the preferred payments method for many at the POS, with higher-earning individuals being significantly
more likely to be heavy credit users46 relative to those who earn less. However, credit card use is consistent across age
groups with over 80 per cent of all credit card holders using their cards regularly for purchases.47 While credit card usage
is increasing, around 30 per cent of Canadians carried a balance on their cards by the end of the month.48 This indicates
that credit cards might be used out of a need to access credit to cover expenses, rather than a preference for credit cards
as a payments method. Younger individuals and those making less than $40,000 annually were around 40 per cent more
likely to carry a balance on their credit cards.49
There are also perceptions that credit cards are more attractive in areas such as convenience and security, which
causes consumers to favour them overall. These positive security perceptions play a huge role as credit card companies
offer consumer protection policies and the use of “credit” rather than own funds in the event of unauthorized or
fraudulent transactions.
41 Credit cards include all credit card transactions; for example, card on file, contact and contactless (including card and mobile) payments.
42 Euromonitor. 2019 Financial Cards and Payments in Canada.
43 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey.
44 Ibid.
45 Ibid.
46 Heavy credit users are defined as those who make more than 50 per cent of their transactions using credit.
47 Regular users are defined as those who used their credit card more than once in the past seven days.
48 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey.
49 Ibid.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 12PREPAID CARDS
2019 Highlights
• Prepaid cards remain a less popular payment • Prepaid card transaction volumes increased
method but continue to have a high year-over- by eight per cent from 2018, to represent
year POS growth rate (around a eight per cent 1.8 per cent of the total POS volume (in
increase in volume and a six per cent increase comparison to 1.3 per cent in 2014).
in value from 2018). • Prepaid card transaction values increased by
• The average prepaid card transaction was $58. six per cent from 2018, to represent 2.1 per
cent of the total POS value (in comparison to
1.7 in 2014).
In 2019, prepaid cards, either plastic or virtual, grew significantly at the POS (eight per cent in volume, six per cent in
value). Nearly one in five Canadians either purchased or received at least one prepaid card per month. Young (those aged
18-34) and unbanked Canadians are the most common users of prepaid payments products.50 This is driven by a lack of
access to traditional banking products, such as debit and credit cards. However, prepaid cards are starting to be used by
a wider base, as those who seek security and anonymity for purchases have turned to prepaid cards as an alternative to
cash.51 As prepaid cards are not directly linked to user account information, they offer an electronic method of payment
that carries many of the benefits of cash. Additionally, increasing concerns about fraud is linked to the rising use of prepaid
cards, with prepaid card users almost twice as likely to have experienced some type of fraudulent financial activity.52
A recent study finds that 70 per cent of Canadians are more concerned about fraud today than they were five years
ago,53 which can drive more consumers towards prepaid cards to minimize the risks that come with sharing financial
information online or using cards directly linked to banking accounts.
The use of prepaid cards has been accelerated by emerging e-commerce and mobile payments trends. Prepaid cards
accounted for 10 per cent of e-commerce payments in 2019.54 Canadians were three times more likely to use a prepaid
payment for e-commerce than they were at physical POS merchant locations. The growing use of mobile payments also
plays a significant role in accelerating prepaid card use. In 2019, 80 per cent of prepaid POS purchases were made using
closed-loop store cards, with a notable amount of prepaid purchases being linked to mobile devices and virtual prepaid
cards. Over a quarter of Canadians (28 per cent) used at least one prepaid virtual card, with the most popular being
Tim Hortons and Starbucks loyalty cards.55 The use of prepaid cards at these establishments is directly linked with
rewards and loyalty programs that drive consumer usage.
50 Unbanked refers to those who do not have any financial products (i.e., debit card or credit card) associated with a traditional financial institution.
51 Euromonitor. 2019 Financial Cards and Payments in Canada.
52 Leger/Payments Canada. 2020 Consumer Payments Behaviour Tracker Survey.
53 Available at: https://www.cpacanada.ca/en/the-cpa-profession/about-cpa-canada/media-centre/2019/february/canadians-express-strong-concerns-about-fraud-cpa-canada-survey.
54 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey.
55 Ibid.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 13CONTACTLESS PAYMENTS (VIA CARD AND MOBILE DEVICES)
2019 Highlights
• Contactless payments continue to grow in • Contactless transaction volumes increased by
popularity, with Canadians making more debit 15 per cent from 2018, to represent 28 per cent
contactless transactions overall. of total POS payments volume in 2019.
• The average debit contactless transaction • Contactless transaction values increased by
is $19, while the average credit contactless 20 per cent from 2018, to represent 17 per
transaction spend is $48. cent of total POS payments value in 2019.
The growth of contactless payments56 (card and mobile) at the POS continued its strong trajectory in 2019. A total of
4.7 billion contactless transactions worth $156 billion were made, representing a 15 per cent increase in volume and a
20 per cent increase in value. This dramatic growth in contactless transactions has been fuelled by increasing consumer
and merchant familiarity with contactless payments and the ability to pay with contactless cards. More consumers now
have devices with near field communication (NFC) capabilities and merchants are increasingly accepting contactless
payments.57 Credit card and debit card contactless payments have rapidly grown, at the expense of cash.
In 2019, debit transactions made up 52 per cent of the total volume of contactless transactions. Fifty six per cent of
Canadian consumers regularly58 tap their physical debit card to make payments, with younger generations (18-34) and
those with higher incomes being more likely to use tap to make purchases.59 Those who regularly tap their mobile device
also tend to be younger who have a higher propensity to digital payments. Contactless debit transactions are widely
viewed as a convenient and easy substitute for cash transactions, being consistently used for small-value transactions.
However, credit contactless transactions dominated in value, making up 70 per cent of total value of contactless
transactions. Many contactless transactions are made for low-value payments (replacing typical cash transactions) with
the average transaction being $35.60
The migration of contactless card payments to mobile phones is still evolving, but is likely to see a strong increase as
more consumers become familiar with mobile contactless as an alternative to physical card payments. Thirty per cent of
debit card holders regularly tapped their mobile device to make a payment with a debit card, while 37 per cent of credit
card holders regularly tapped their mobile device to pay with their credit card.61 Consumers are more likely to link credit
cards to mobile devices because of rewards associated, and credit cards are perceived to be more secure than debit
cards overall.62 For almost a quarter of Canadians, security perception is the key reason why they did not use mobile
payments more often.63
56 Contactless transactions are defined as using a payment card or mobile device tap to initiate a payment through a POS reader (in physical merchant locations).
57 TSI Canadian Payments Forecast, 2019.
58 Regular users are defined as those who tapped their cards more than once in the past seven days.
59 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey.
60 Limitations to the amount that can be “tapped” affects the average transaction value.
61 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey. Regular users are defined as those who tapped their mobile device
to make a payment more than once in the past week.
62 TSI Canadian Payments Forecast, 2019.
63 Ibid.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 14With players like Apple Pay and Google Pay cementing their presence in the contactless market, mobile contactless
payments are expected to continue to grow.64 Additionally, wearables like smart watches can boost mobile contactless
adoption as they become more popular. In 2019, there were almost 14 million payment transactions made via wearables,
more than twice the transactions made in 2018.65 Reportedly, 34 per cent of consumers who owned a wearable made a
payment with one.66
While contactless card use is popular, mobile contactless has had a slower uptake in Canada. When asked why they
chose not to use mobile payments, non-users indicated that they prefer other payment methods, with those over
55 years old more likely to say so.67 In order to drive use of mobile contactless, there needs to be a demonstrated
benefit over using contactless card payments. Current non-users would be more likely to adopt mobile payments
if additional features were added to mobile wallets, such as the ability to store loyalty cards, coupons and store
membership cards.68
Figure 5: Contactless Volume and Value (in millions)
6000 228 250
5,537
5000
Number of Transactions (millions)
184 200
Value of Transactions (billions)
4000 4,395
142
150
3000 3,298
89 100
2000
51 1,968
50
1000 25 1,204
600
0 0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Volume Value
64 For more on mobile payment growth at the POS, please see: https://www.payments.ca/industry-info/our-research/payments-perspectives/changing-channel-mobile-taking-over-online-and.
65 TSI Canadian Payments Forecast, 2019.
66 Ibid.
67 Leger/Payments Canada. 2020 Payments Behaviour Tracker Survey.
68 Ibid.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 15THE E-COMMERCE ENVIRONMENT
2019 Highlights
• Around 86 per cent of Canadian consumers • Those without access to credit (i.e., younger
made an online purchase in the past year. Canadians and unbanked populations) are
• Canadians prefer to use credit cards for using prepaid cards and debit cards to engage
e-commerce, citing security as the reason. in e-commerce.
• Debit cards that offer e-commerce capabilities
(such as co-badged debit products) are
increasingly being used for e-commerce
transactions, with a four per cent increase
from 2018. However, they still fall behind
credit card usage.
E-commerce is defined as the use of web-based store fronts and applications to procure goods (including digital items)
and services from businesses. E-commerce payments result from completing transactions through merchant (payee)
provided online store fronts and software applications, via computers, tablets or mobile devices. This payments channel
has become increasingly popular due to its convenience and ease of use.69 The 2019 data suggests that the e-commerce
market for consumers accounts for over 170 million transactions worth around $54 billion in Canada.70
When looking at the key categories Canadians are purchasing online, clothing and footwear remains the most popular
category (52 per cent of all online purchases). Travel and electronic items follow (37 per cent and 31 per cent,
respectively).71 Overall, younger Canadians and those with over $80,000 in household income are significantly more likely
to make online purchases on a frequent basis.72
Consumer e-commerce transaction value is dominated by credit cards, which make up over half of the total value being
generated by e-commerce. Co-badged branded debit cards follow with 18 per cent (see Figure 6).73 When the
proportion of prepaid cards and PayPal accounts that are linked to Visa and Mastercard credit and debit products
is factored in, Visa and Mastercard payments products combine to account for about 90 per cent of all e-commerce
transaction value in Canada.74 PayPal use for e-commerce transactions is relatively low in Canada with fewer than
one in five Canadians using PayPal regularly.75 However, younger generations are twice as likely to use PayPal
relative to older generations76 as they are more likely to be comfortable with using online service providers and
make more e-commerce transactions.
69 TSI Canadian Payments Forecast, 2019.
70 This year’s e-commerce market differs from past CPMT reports as we have excluded online transactions originating from businesses to align with industry figures.
Estimates indicate that two thirds of e-commerce transactions originate from businesses-however, these are excluded from this analysis.
71 TSI Canadian Payments Forecast, 2019.
72 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey. Frequent basis defined as more than three times a month.
73 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey.
74 Debit cards used for e-commerce use credit card rails, as the cards are connected; so, Visa and Mastercard networks are used for online and international transactions.
75 Regular users are defined as those who used PayPal more than once a month.
76 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 16While the majority of online transactions are still made via web pages, alternative e-commerce channel use is
growing. Consumers are increasingly conducting e-commerce transactions “in-app” using their mobile devices,
via consoles and through Internet of Things (IoT) devices.77 These e-commerce channels leverage “card on file”
information in order to enable faster and more convenient payments. Around 18 per cent of Canadians made in-
app purchases, however, less than 15 per cent of Canadians used consoles or IoT devices to conduct e-commerce
transactions.78
Figure 6: Consumer E-Commerce Transaction Payments Mix79
19%
18%
52%
12%
10%
Credit Card PayPal Debit Card Interac Online Prepaid Card
77 IoT refers to Internet of Things. This includes smart technology like Google Home and Alexa where consumers can set up autonomous or disparate purchasing of goods and services.
78 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey.
79 Ibid.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 17THE REMOTE ENVIRONMENT
Remote transactions include all transactions that do not involve a POS device or application. In the remote
environment a third party, such as a financial institution, routes payments from payors to payees via cheques, EFT
and other electronic means. Remote transactions include bill payments, pre-authorized debit (PAD), person-to-person
(P2P) payments and business-to-business (B2B) transactions. A total of 3.9 billion remote transactions worth about
$8.2 trillion were made in 2019. EFT and cheques still dominate the remote transaction environment in 2019 as they
continue to be used for high value commercial transactions. However, online transfers and remote credit transactions
are seeing significant growth in the remote environment as commercial payments options, such as Visa Direct80 or
Interac Bulk Payables, are established.81
Figure 7: Volume and Value of Remote Payment Methods
Volume Value
2% 1%
14%
11%
40% 57%
12%
62%
Cheque and Paper Online Transfer EFT Credit Card
80 Visa Direct allows Visa users to send funds with any Visa debit, credit or prepaid products.
81 Bulk Disbursement is an enhancement to current Interac e-Transfer capabilities that allows for multiple payments at once.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 18CHEQUE AND PAPER ITEMS
2019 Highlights
• Cheque and paper use is declining steadily • Cheque and paper transaction values
however, cheque value remains significant decreased by seven per cent from 2018,
in remote payment methods. to represent 39 per cent of the total remote
• The average cheque and paper transaction payments value (compared to 51 per cent
was $6,142. in 2014).
• Cheque and paper transaction volumes
decreased by 12 per cent from 2018, to
represent 12 per cent of the total remote
payments volume (compared to 27 per cent
in 2014).
In 2019, cheque and paper item82 volume declined by 12 per cent, relative to 2018. Business and consumer cheque
volumes declined (16 per cent and five per cent, respectively). The decline in cheque and paper items can be attributed to
Canadians embracing electronic payment methods such as EFT, remote credit card, and online transfer payments. In 2019,
82 per cent of all the cheque and paper items exchanged between Canadian financial institutions were images, and more
consumers and businesses took advantage of digital deposit technology.
In 2019, cheque and paper items remained significant in remote transactions, representing 39 per cent of the total remote
transaction value. Despite the steady decline in cheque and paper item volume, the total value of these transactions
remains high in Canada across remote payment methods. Even though fewer cheque and paper items are being written,
the remaining items are being written for increasingly higher amounts. In 2019, the average cheque and paper transaction
was $6,142 versus $4,030 in 2014. The significance of cheque and paper value can be attributed to commercial cheque
use rather than consumer cheque use (see the section on business payments for more on the drivers of cheque usage).83
Consumer use of cheques is situated around several use cases, such as paying bills, rent, or another person, or making a
charitable donation. This is driven by consumers’ preference to use their own funds and the ability to track their expenses
via cheque as well as payee’s preference (see the bill payments section for more).84 However, consumer use of cheques
has dropped significantly, with a 24 per cent decrease in volume and a 23 per cent decrease in value, relative to 2018.
This is a result of more Canadians adopting more electronic payment methods to address previously cheque-intensive
use cases. Still, over a quarter of Canadians (30 per cent) use cheques regularly, with older generations and those with
higher incomes significantly more likely to use cheques.85
82 Cheque and paper items include paper remittances, imaged paper and encoded paper items.
83 Cheque figures include SET transactions that inflate the overall cheque value significantly.
84 Leger/Payments Canada. 2020 Consumer Payment Behaviour Tracker.
85 Leger/Payments Canada. 2019/2020 Canadian Consumer Payments and Transactions Survey. Regular cheque users defined as those who used cheques at least once a month.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 19ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER (EFT)
2019 Highlights
• EFT volume and value continue to make up the • EFT transaction value grew around six per cent
majority of remote payments. EFT growth was from 2018 to represent 57 per cent of the total
steady, at the expense of cheques. remote payments value in 2019 (compared to
• The average EFT transaction was $1,690. 48 per cent in 2014).
• EFT transaction volumes increased by three
per cent from 2018, to represent 61 per cent
of the total remote payments volume in 2019
(representing the same share of remote value
as 2014).
EFT includes remote transactions made through deposit accounts held at Canadian financial institutions, including direct
deposits, electronic remittances, pre-authorized debits and other online bill payments transactions (AFT credits, AFT
debits and EDI).86 In 2019, there were a total of 2.95 billion EFT transactions, worth $5 trillion. EFT transactions continue
to dominate remote transactions, as the leading payments type in terms of both volume and value.
Businesses are the primary drivers of EFT use as it remains the most used instrument for commercial payments
due to its speed and convenience (see the business payments section for more). Consumers also play a significant
role when it comes to making recurring payments and paying bills with EFT (discussed further in the bill payments
featured analysis). However, online transfers and credit cards are becoming appealing alternatives for consumers
and businesses alike.
ONLINE TRANSFERS
2019 Highlights
• As online transfers grow in popularity, Interac • Online transfer transaction values increased
e-Transfer still dominates the category in by 32 per cent from 2018, to represent two
Canada, particularly for P2P payments. per cent of the total remote payments value
• The average online transfer transaction (compared to 0.4 per cent in 2014).
was $340. • The key drivers for online transfer use are
• Online transfer transaction volumes increased speed, convenience and security.
by 36 per cent from 2018, to represent 11 per
cent of the total remote payments volume
(compared to two per cent in 2014).
86 To read more, please see: https://www.payments.ca/about-us/our-systems-and-rules/retail-system.
C A N A D I A N PAY M E N T S : M E T H O D S A N D T R E N D S 2 0 2 0 20You can also read
