The 2023 Chase Payment Solutions State of Canadian Payments report reveals that merchants are open to adopting new payments options over the next year as payment innovations for consumers increase in Canada.
The State of Canadian Payments Report (registration required) reflects on the changes within Canada’s payments landscape. The company analyzed survey data from 2,200 small to medium-sized businesses to find which payment options are the most popular.
According to Marilu Gaudio, president of Chase Payment Solutions Canada, shopping habits during the COVID-19 pandemic transformed, with 82 per cent of Canadians shopping online in 2020. This was a jump from 77 per cent in 2018.
“Our survey suggests things are changing and merchants’ appetite to adopt new technology is increasing,” Gaudio says.
Contactless and cashless payments are becoming the norm for business, as people move toward touchless and mobile shopping
Payment options such as Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), mobile wallets, cryptocurrency, cashless, peer-to-peer (P2P), and contactless credit cards are just some of the payment options available today.
Chase Payment asked its survey respondents about those six payment methods.
Just over 50 per cent of Canadian business owners and upper management surveyed said they have adopted mobile wallet payment. Sixty-three per cent of respondents who don’t accept mobile wallet payments plans to adopt this method within the next 12 months.
For contactless credit card payment options, 38 per cent have adopted it and 59 per cent plan on doing so.
P2P or e-transfer payment options are currently being used by 23 per cent, with about 57 per cent interested in adopting this method over the next year.
BNPL options have been adopted by 23 per cent of businesses and 55 per cent are interested in adding it to their systems.
Twenty-one per cent of respondents said they are using cryptocurrency as a payment method, and over half said they are interested in adopting it in the future. However, business owners who aren’t interested in adopting the technology said they don’t trust the technology or are not comfortable with how it works.
Lastly, only 17 per cent of respondents said they don’t accept cash payments in their businesses. However, cashless payments do account for most business transactions, with 90 per cent choosing cashless payment options.
Other findings from the survey revealed that, in general, respondents from the restaurant industry are most open to adopting emerging payment methods. Retail and healthcare respondents are the least open to adoption.
Businesses located in western Canada are most open to adopting emerging payment methods. eastern Canadian businesses are lagging in terms of adoption, and central Canada falls in the middle.
The survey highlighted that knowledge about payment technology is crucial in this day and age. Luckily, Canadian business owners and upper management said, when it comes to payment processing vendors, 98 per cent are knowledgeable about the topic.
