After substantial increases in adoption of touchless, digital, and online payments channels during the pandemic, 2022 and 2023 have seen backsliding to previous habits: in-store purchases have rebounded, cash use has increased from 2020, and the steady march of hardware installation has created conditions of near ubiquity for digital wallet acceptance in the market. The rapid advance of payment digitization in the pandemic era has brought with it new opportunities, technologies and concerns. This survey is focused on understanding what factors influence consumer adoption of various payments options, as well as what concerns they have about these emerging channels.  Additionally, we establish baseline adoption methods for payments in areas such as crypto, metaverse, and other (at present) novel methods.  

This report is based on Mercator Advisory Group’s North American PaymentsInsights series’ annual survey. A web-based survey was fielded between April 27th and May 5th, 2023, using a Canadian online consumer research panel of adults aged 18 and older. The survey of 1,001 Canadian adults focused on consumer attitudes and behaviors around latest payment technologies offered to consumers, identifies essential shifts in consumer payment preferences, and reveals consumer use and interest in emerging new payment products and services.

The panel of 1,001 respondents supports a sampling error of +/– 3.0% at the 95% confidence level for questions asked of all respondents, as well as at many sub- segment levels designed to approximate a random sample.

The online questionnaire used for this study was developed by Mercator Advisory Group in consultation with our clients, which represent a range of payments industry stakeholders.

Highlights of the research report include:

• Use of Financial Services Products
• General Payments
• Mobile/Digital Wallets
• Peer-to-Peer Payment Services
• Bill Payment Options
• Internet of Things
• In-Car/In-Game Purchases
• Cryptocurrency
• Metaverse
• Security and Privacy
• Biometrics and Digital IDs