Digital payments on the rise during pandemic: survey

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Published September 28, 2020 at 11:27 pm

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With the daily case count reaching unprecedented heights, the Province has declared Ontario has entered the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, many are concerned another looking shutdown, similar to what happened in March, could further exacerbate financial issues many young Canadians are facing.

According to a recent study, a little more than half of millennials and Gen Z—53 per cent—are concerned about their managing their finances.

Based on the findings, young Canadians– 50 per cent of Millennials and 47 per cent of Gen Z adults—are much more worried about overextending themselves financially than older generations—only 31 per cent of baby boomers and 36 per cent of the silent generation felt this way.

Additionally, in order to help them stay on top of their finances, many Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 are using digital payments to track their spending, which helps them feel more in control.

“The adoption of digital payments has accelerated over the course of the pandemic for reasons beyond convenience alone,” William Keliehor, chief commercial officer for Interac Corp, said in a news release.

“In fact, our research reveals that younger Canadians value digital payments for the insight they provide into their spending habits and are turning to debit payments as a money management tool,” he continued.

Further, during the pandemic, with additional safety measures in place to help prevent the spread of the virus, Interac e-Transfer transactions have increased significantly in frequency—from April to August there was a 55 per cent increase in e-Transfer transactions, with a total of 66 million during August alone.

As well, nearly half of Canadians—46 per cent—have seen their use of the Interac e-Transfer platform increase during the pandemic, with 52 per cent using it at least twice a month.

Moreover, younger Canadians—64 per cent of millennials and 48 per cent of Gen Z—moved away from using cash in favour of using digital payment methods during the pandemic.

“The research findings speak to the positive role that digital payments can play in giving Canadians a sense of everyday financial control at a time of great uncertainty. As the fintech community continues to innovate, it’s critical that ability for Canadians to use their own money remain a priority,” Keliehor added.

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