Stats Show Canada’s Love For Credit Cards Is Growing

It’s no secret that Canadians love using credit cards to pay for their purchases. Business owners all over this great country of ours are well aware that a huge chunk of the revenue their companies make comes from credit card sales. It makes one wonder why any Canadian business owner would not want to provide his/her customers with such a widely popular payment option. On CreditCards.com, Aaron Broverman provides some statistics that suggest that all Canadian merchants should accept credit cards.

At least 89% of Canadian adults had at least one credit card in 2014. That’s close to every adult in Canada having a card! It goes without saying, therefore, that the majority of shoppers are interested in the ability to pay for purchases using credit. In fact, most Canadian adults carry more than one credit card. With options that include Visa, MasterCard and American Express, consumers are often taking advantage of more than one credit card issuer.

Last year, the average number of credit cards per Canadian adults was 2.2. And why wouldn’t shoppers want more than one card? Firstly, it gives them the ability to increase the amount of credit they have. That way, they can better afford big ticket items and emergency expenditures. Secondly, different cards come with different benefits. Many cardholders enjoy the perks that come along with using credit cards.

As most know, credit cards don’t just allow consumers extra time to pay off their purchases. They also provide such benefits as rewards points that often go towards travel. Many Canadians have taken free flights, had free hotel stays or gotten free car rentals simply because of the points they accumulated using their various credit cards.

As of October 2014, there were 72 million Visa and MasterCard credit cards in circulation. In other words, there are twice as many credit cards being used in Canada than there are Canadians! And that’s not even including American Express or Discover cards. It would appear as if it’s safe to say that there are more Canadians walking around with plastic in their pockets than there are Canadians walking around with cash.

Consumer spending across Canada rose by 5.29% in December 2015, compared to one year prior. Broverman also reveals that spending on credit cards increased by 7.16% in the fourth quarter of 2015, compared to the same period the year before. So what does that tell us? The way we see it, it’s pretty simple. Credit card use continues to increase in popularity. And all signs point to its popularity continuing to grow.

Contactless payments accounted for 5.8% of all transactions in the fourth quarter of 2015, more than double their share from the same period in 2014. This stat provides one of the major reasons that credit card use continues to surge. Think about it. What has changed about paying with cash throughout the course of time? Nothing. You get what you pay for. With credit cards, people get rewards points, extra time to pay and new technologies that make the entire shopping experience that much easier.

Contactless payments make credit card use easier than ever! At Canadian POS Corporation, our Wireless terminals support a variety of payment types including PIN-based transactions and contactless payments. For more information, give us a call at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost. Be sure to ask about our Countertop terminals as well!