North American PaymentsInsights: Canadian & American Consumers: Similar, but Different

Americans are slightly more comfortable with new technologies and incorporating them into their lives than Canadians, according to new research from Mercator Advisory Group. For example, U.S. citizens are more likely to use P2P payment services and mobile payments. On the other hand, Canadians are more inclined to use a contactless payment card and to use ATMs to conduct transactions other than just getting cash.

Mercator Advisory Group’s most recent consumer survey report, Canadian & American Consumers: Similar, but Different, from the 2019 Technology Survey of the bi-annual North American PaymentsInsights series, examines the similarities and differences between American and Canadian consumers on various payment related issues.

“This report highlights the dynamics of both countries. For example, Canadians appear to rely on their credit cards more than debit while debit cards are more popular than credit cards in the U.S. Further, Canadians are much more likely to rely on their bank for paying bills than Americans,” stated the author of the report, Peter Reville, director of Primary Research Services at Mercator Advisory Group, which includes the North American PaymentsInsights series.

The report, which is based on an online panel survey administered to 3,006 U.S. and 1,000 Canadian adults in November-December 2019, presents results from questions exploring how consumers view technology, their experience with fraud, how they use ATMs, their usage of subscription services, and how they pay bills.

This report in slide form is 86 pages long.