Raynor de Best
Content expert covering payments and (crypto)currencies
Digital payments landscape in Canada - statistics & facts
Digital payments in Canada largely consists of credit cards in both e-commerce and POS, although alternatives such as domestic schemes Interac became increasingly popular. This change is especially noticeable in the e-commerce payment preferences for Canadians, as digital wallets gained several percentage points in market share in recent years. The market share of credit cards in Canada's POS shopping remained virtually unchanged since 2017. Canada's market size for payment gateways - services such as Stripe, Braintree, Adyen, Square, etc. - was considerably larger than most countries, further signaling the growing importance of wallets.
Digital payments refer to any form of cashless payment or payments conducted without banknotes or coins in either an online or offline environment. This can include mobile payments (digital payments performed with a mobile device), fintech (such companies tend to be at the forefront of payment digitalization), or relatively young trends like buy now, pay later (BNPL) or cryptocurrency. Out of all these cashless options, which developments are noteworthy to know about for Canada?
Digital payments refer to any form of cashless payment or payments conducted without banknotes or coins in either an online or offline environment. This can include mobile payments (digital payments performed with a mobile device), fintech (such companies tend to be at the forefront of payment digitalization), or relatively young trends like buy now, pay later (BNPL) or cryptocurrency. Out of all these cashless options, which developments are noteworthy to know about for Canada?
Interac is a major brand for digital payments in Canada
A central player within Canada's digital payment landscape, Interac is the country's debit network. Technically the network behind debit card payments in the country, it offers payment services Interac Online for e-commerce, Interac e-Transfer for remittances and a mobile wallet solution for debit payments. Survey respondents stated that they only used PayPal more often for online payments than Interac. An index score on company perception ranked the payments network as Canada's fifth most reputable brand - third among companies from the country. The Bank of Canada considered Interact a PPS, or Prominent Payments System, making the system a participant in the technical development of real-time payments in Canada. By 2022, instant payments - which include Interact e-Transfer - made up roughly six percent of general payments in the country.Credit and buy now, pay later
Canada's traditional preference for credit cards showed in a consumer survey asking for changing payment habits due to the rising cost of living: 53 percent of Canadian respondents changed their behavior in 2022 and chose credit cards for this. Buy now, pay later also grew, but only among 16 percent of respondents. Nevertheless, sources believe the familiarity with credit cards may allow for further adoption of BNPL. Predictions are that seven out of 10 e-commerce vendors in Canada will offer buy now, pay later on their website come 2024. Estimates are that BNPL transactions in Canada were about 20 percent higher in 2023 than in 2022, making up roughly seven percent of all buy now, pay later in transaction value within North America.
