Payments Canada released its annual Canadian Payment Methods and Trends 2023 report, which analyzes 20.5 billion payment transactions “made in 2022 totaling $11.7 trillion (more than $475 billion every business day) and highlights the trends shaping the Canadian payment landscape.”
Year-over-year trends: Credit and debit cards continue to be the top two payment methods
- Transaction volumes and values across all payment types, with the exception of cheques, experienced year-over-year growth in 2022.
- Credit cards represented 33 per cent of all payment volumes in 2022, followed by debit cards (31 per cent); electronic funds transfer (15 per cent); cash (10 per cent); online transfer (five per cent); cheque (two per cent); ABM (two per cent); prepaid cards (two per cent).
- Electronic funds transfer represented 59 per cent of total payment value in 2022, followed by cheques (28 per cent); credit cards (six per cent); debit cards and online transfers (both three per cent); ABM (one per cent); cash (0.5 per cent); prepaid cards (0.2 per cent).
- Online transfer continued to be the fastest-growing payment type with year-over-year volume growth of 11 per cent and value growth of 19 per cent from 2021. Interac e
- Transfer continued to dominate the online transfer payment segment with more than three in five Canadians (61 per cent) using Interac e-Transfer to either send or receive a payment in a given month.
- Credit card volume increased five per cent, while debit card volume increased six per cent year-over-year in 2022 compared to 2021.
- The average credit card transaction value was $99, while the average debit card transaction value was $47.
- Cash use grew two per cent in volume, with the average cash transaction value at $29.
- Five-year trends: Online transfer continued to be the fastest-growing payment type
While total payment volume declined “by two per cent compared to five years ago, total payment value increased by 21 per cent during this same period.”
While online transfers represent “a small portion of total payment volume, they experienced the highest growth of any payment method over the past five years (328 per cent in payment volume and 314 per cent in payment value) and are poised to overtake cash.”
Within the card space, credit and prepaid cards “lead the way in terms of volume growth at 23 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.”
Debit card volume increased “by nine per cent.”
Cash and cheque transaction volumes “decreased by 59 per cent and 45 per cent.”
Tracey Black, President and CEO of Payments Canada, said:
“We have seen a dramatic shift towards digital payment options over the past five years. Evolving technologies will continue to influence how Canadians make and receive payments. Payments Canada continues to work collaboratively with the payment ecosystem to provide Canadians and Canadian businesses with convenient, safe and efficient payment options.”