Study shows Canadians’ growing enthusiasm for mobile payments

Cash purchases will make up only 10% of money spent in Canada by 2030, claims research released by Moneris. Compared to 35% of overall transactions in 2014, the 70% decline in cash usage will see an increase in the use of digital payment technologies such as mobile wallets and a rise in contactless transactions.

Moneris Logo 200A quarter of Canadians aged 18-34 prefer paying with a mobile wallet over cash or card, compared to 18% of those aged 45-54, 10% aged 55-64 and 6% aged 65 and over. In the 18-34 bracket, 46% said they would be more likely to use a mobile wallet if it were available for their credit card, and 47% said they would use one if it were accessible on their current phone.

When asked their reasons for not using a mobile wallet, 62% of the 1,516 Canadians surveyed by Leger said they would be more likely to do so if they knew it was secure and 42% would use one if more stores accepted it. 50% said they would leave their physical wallets at home if they could store all their loyalty cards on their phone.

48% would head out without physical wallets if they could get their receipts emailed to them, 46% would do so if they could use their phone to make purchases at any store, 41% if they could store identification documents on their phone and 35% if they could use their device to pay for public transit.

Current situation

Credit and debit cards are still the most frequently used payment type, with 60% using their credit cards “always or often,” followed by 56% for debit cards, 45% for cash, 31% for contactless cards, 5% for a retailer’s app and 3% for mobile wallets.

“More Canadians, especially younger ones, are tapping their cards to pay as opposed to inserting them into payment terminals,” says Rob Cameron, chief product officer at Moneris. “We’ve seen the number of contactless transactions more than double this year, which is a strong indication that mobile payments are going to see a huge lift.”

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