What is your preferred method of payment? When this question is asked of Canadians, most respond by saying “credit cards”. As reported by Sandra MacGregor on GreedyRates.ca, “a total of 96.8 million Visa and MasterCard cards are in circulation in Canada. That’s more than 2.5 credit cards for every citizen!”
Canadians love getting rewards along with their purchases.
MacGregor highlights the fact that one of the top reasons Canadians love to use credit cards is the ability to earn rewards. Unlike with cash or with debit, credit card purchases give customers more than just what they have purchased. Depending on the cards being used, the accumulated points can often go towards travel benefits, groceries or even cash back.
“Nearly three-quarters of Canadians (72%) carry at least one credit card that has a rewards program,” reveals MacGregor, “In fact, 82% of Canadians surveyed, rewards are a priority when selecting a credit card. If you haven’t already, it’s never too late to learn how to take advantage of credit card rewards.”
Canadians are pretty good at paying their bills on time.
Naturally, smart credit card users are those who always make their payments on time. MacGregor notes that the majority of Canadians – 70 percent, in fact - don’t just keep their payments up to date. They also pay their balances off in full each month. “Paying off your full balance every month is the most important rule of owning a credit card, so hopefully, we’ll see this number increase next year!” she writes.
MacGregor also points out that the average charge on a credit card in Canada is $94.76. As well, “the average credit score in Canada (a major factor in determining your eligibility for a credit card, along with income) is 650.” She notes that all of her reported statistics were derived from data courtesy of the CBC, TransUnion, Statista, LoansCanada and SimpleRate. It also came from information made publicly available through company annual reports and disclosures.
Credit card popularity has grown since the pandemic.
Not only did the pandemic increase the use of credit cards in Canada, it also changed the ways in which Canadians think about their credit cards. Remember that COVID-19 significantly impacted businesses and many people had their incomes lowered. This made it so that more Canadians started looking towards using credit cards with low fees and easy approval rates.
“There’s an increased demand for credit cards that offer easier approval ‒ and a slight increase in interest for credit cards with low fees,” affirms CreditCardGenius.ca, “With massive layoffs and Canada’s economy in severe recession, these shifts come as no surprise...We did expect to see a much steeper increase in demand for cards with easy approval. Given the huge profit declines reported by the banks, their response was to tighten approvals for new credit.”
Do you accept credit cards in your store?
At Unity Payments, we proudly offer Canadian merchants a variety of high-quality payment terminals to enable them to accept credit cards and debit cards. They include the Poynt Newland 910, the Ingenico Desk/5000, the Ingenico Move/5000 and the Poynt C Smart Terminal. 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.
