At present, Canadian shoppers are hitting the stores (both in person and online) to snag as many items on their holiday gift wish lists as possible. Chances are that they are also using credit cards to pay for their purchases. Why? Canadian consumers know that, with credit cards, they can make flexible payments, perform balance transfers and take advantage of price protection.

What other credit card perks influence holiday gift shopping trends?

Extended warranties take away the worry of a product not working.

One of the top concerns of holiday shoppers is that the gifts they buy are in good working order. The last thing most people want is to purchase faulty or defective gifts for their loved ones. With extended warranties on their credit cards, shoppers can rest assure that items purchased on the cards will have their warranties extended. As Steven Porello contends on Fool.ca, a built-in extended warranty can be a “godsend”.

“Many of Canada’s best credit cards will add an additional year of coverage to eligible purchases, ensuring that those expensive gadgets you bought still work next Christmas,” he writes.

Rewards points provide shoppers with more than what they paid for.

Who doesn’t like getting more “bang” for their bucks? With rewards cards, shoppers accumulate points for every dollar they spend. Depending on the cards used, consumers can rack up tons of rewards points during their holiday shopping excursions. As Shannon Terrell reports for NerdWallet Canada, a survey of over 1,000 Canadian adults, conducted by The Harris Poll, found that 21 percent of holiday shoppers will use credit card rewards to pay for gifts.

She also highlights the benefits of going holiday shopping with a cash back card. “With a cash-back credit card, you earn back a small percentage of what you spend, while a rewards credit card earns points that can be redeemed for entertainment, merchandise and gift cards (all of which can be given as holiday gifts themselves, if you already have some points gathered up),” Terrell informs.

Purchase protection provides peace of mind in the event of loss, damage and theft.

What happens if the product you purchase becomes damaged, lost or stolen? The answer to that question all depends on how you paid for the item. If you paid with cash, you’re pretty much out of luck. If you paid with a credit card, however, you just may be entitled to purchase protection. As Porello informs us, the feature (also known as “damage protection”) protects your purchases from accidental damage or theft.

“Sometimes retailers will try to guilt you into buying purchase protection on expensive products,” he reveals, “But if your credit card has purchase protection built into it, you can save yourself some money. Just use the card to buy the product, and boom — you have it.”

Do you accept credit cards as methods of payment in your store?

At Unity Payments, we proudly offer Canadian merchants a variety of high-quality payment terminals to choose from. You can easily and securely accept credit card and debit card payments with the Poynt C Smart Terminal, the Newland 910, the Ingenico Desk/5000 or the Ingenico Move/5000. To learn all about your options, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-661-3761. You may also email us at info@unitypayments.ca.