Electronic payments in Canada accounted for 73 percent of all transactions in 2018: report

Electronic payments accounted for 73 percent of all transactions made in 2018, according to a recent report from Payments Canada.

The newly released 2019 report analyses the 21.1 billion payment transactions that Canadians made in 2018 that totalled $9.9 trillion in value.

Cash payments only made up 21 percent of all transactions. The report also reveals that contactless payments grew 30 percent year-over-year from 2017-2018. There were a total of 4.1 billion contactless payments made through cards or mobile devices.

Additionally, mobile devices were used by nearly 35 percent of Canadians for contactless payments in 2018, which displays a slower uptake than contactless cards. This could be due to security concerns, as only less than a third of consumers believe that mobile payments are secure, according to the report.

“There has been a remarkable transition from paper-based to digital payments over the last five years, but there is still a huge opportunity and need to advance Canada’s payments landscape,” said Cyrielle Chiron, Payments Canada’s head of research and strategic foresight, in a press release.

There was also a 52 percent year-over-year growth of online transfers. It’s important to note that since electronic transactions are becoming more popular, this led to a 40 percent decline in cash payments over the past five years.

Payments Canada is responsible for ensuring that financial transactions in Canada are carried out securely each day. It compiled the report by collaborating with payment service providers, payment consults and researchers to form the understanding of the payment landscape in 2018.

Source: Payments Canada