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Canadian Payment Methods and Trends (Payments Canada)
Canadian Payment Methods and Trends (Payments Canada)
In 2024, Canada’s payment landscape was dominated by digital payments, which comprised 86% of all transactions and 77% of total payment value, reflecting the country’s rapid adoption of contactless and e-commerce solutions. Total retail payment transactions reached 22.5 billion, amounting to $12.2 trillion—a 3% rise in both volume and value from 2023. Credit cards accounted for one in three transactions (33%) and over half (54%) of Canadians used them to pay bills or household expenses, while the number of credit cards in circulation rose to 112 million. Despite the growth in mobile and online payments, cash was still used frequently by nearly half of Canadians, and 57% expressed no desire for a completely cashless future. Payment innovation, including AI-driven shopping and mobile contactless methods, continues to reshape Canadian spending habits, with e-commerce projected to represent over 10% of retail sales by 2028, and mobile contactless payments expected to almost double in volume within five years.
#Canada#Fintech#Payments#Cash#AgenticAI#DFC
·payments.ca·
Canadian Payment Methods and Trends (Payments Canada)
Cash is Still King Across Africa (The Guardian)
Cash is Still King Across Africa (The Guardian)

According to an article in the Guardian, despite significant digital payment innovation in some regions, cash remains the dominant form of transaction across many African countries, driven by persistent trust issues, currency volatility, and limited point-of-sale adoption of cards and mobile money. The article highlights how merchants and consumers still favor cash due to practical challenges and skepticism about digital systems. The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (Papss), recently launched under the African Continental Free Trade Area, aims to transform cross-border payments by enabling instant, low-fee transfers in local currencies and promoting financial sovereignty. However, Papss faces hurdles including infrastructure gaps, regulatory alignment with central banks, and competition from established global networks. If successful, Papss could become a game-changer for small businesses—streamlining trade and making payments as easy as texting, but wide adoption will depend on overcoming existing barriers and coordinating with national initiatives. [Source: The Guardian]

#FastPayments#Africa#Fintech#CrossBorder#PAPSS#Cash#DFC
·theguardian.com·
Cash is Still King Across Africa (The Guardian)
CashTech Innovations: Bridging Digital and Physical Finance
CashTech Innovations: Bridging Digital and Physical Finance

According to CashEssentials, CashTech is emerging as a transformative force bridging physical cash and digital finance, reflecting a new wave of innovation from fintechs and traditional banks. Recent examples include Revolut’s rollout of branded ATMs in Spain and Lloyds Bank’s collaboration with PayPoint, enabling cash deposits at thousands of UK retail locations, which together make cash more accessible and secure in today's digital-oriented financial landscape. The sector’s advancements—like apps allowing cash access via QR codes, SMS-based welfare disbursements, charity coins, online-to-cash payment systems, and virtual ATM networks—demonstrate how technology can strengthen financial inclusion, modernize cash handling, and integrate physical and digital payment options. Driven by regulation, consumer demand, and the need for equitable payment infrastructure, CashTech is shaping a future where both cash and digital money coexist.

#Cash#CashTech#Fintech#Payments#DFC
·cashessentials.org·
CashTech Innovations: Bridging Digital and Physical Finance
Lessons on the Unique Role of Physical Currency Across Four Crises (ECB)
Lessons on the Unique Role of Physical Currency Across Four Crises (ECB)
The European Central Bank (ECB) published an an article on the enduring and unique role of physical cash during four major crises—COVID-19, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the 2025 Iberian blackout, and the Greek sovereign debt crisis. It highlights how, despite a trend towards digitized payments, cash circulation surges dramatically during periods of acute uncertainty, infrastructural failure, or financial turmoil. In each crisis, people and institutions turned to cash as a reliable, tangible, and offline store of value and means of payment, underscoring its irreplaceable function when digital systems faltered or confidence was shaken. These episodes reveal that cash is not just a transactional relic, but a critical contingency instrument and societal insurance that boosts resilience, ensures preparedness, and provides psychological reassurance. The findings argue for public policy that protects and maintains broad access to cash, viewing it as a pillar of crisis management and economic stability, rather than simply as a payment alternative in an increasingly digital world. [Source: ECB]
#Cash#ECB#Fintech#DFC
·ecb.europa.eu·
Lessons on the Unique Role of Physical Currency Across Four Crises (ECB)
2024 Bank of Canada Methods-of-Payment Survey Report
2024 Bank of Canada Methods-of-Payment Survey Report
According to the Bank of Canada, in 2024, Canadians’ cash use remained stable at roughly one-fifth of transaction volume and about one-tenth of value, holding its place behind credit and debit at the point of sale; meanwhile, nominal cash holdings ticked up (with more $50/$100 notes on hand), and withdrawals rose across ABMs, branches, and cashback though still below pre‑2017 levels. Most people report good access to cash (ABMs and branches), strong note quality perceptions, and limited appetite to go fully cashless—nearly four in five have no plans to abandon cash, and even many “cashless” consumers still keep some on hand. Cash transactions skew toward lower‑value purchases (average around the mid‑$20s over the diary window), while contactless cards and rising mobile payments continue to capture higher shares of in‑person spending; merchant acceptance of cash remains high, and the overall post‑pandemic leveling suggests cash persists as a meaningful, resilient payment option despite ongoing growth in digital alternatives.
#Cash#Payments#Canada#Fintech#DFC
·bankofcanada.ca·
2024 Bank of Canada Methods-of-Payment Survey Report
Decoupling age, period and cohort from euro cash use
Decoupling age, period and cohort from euro cash use
The European Central Bank (ECB) published an article that analyzes why cash remains a vital means of payment in the euro area despite long-standing predictions of a cashless society. Using recent data (2019–2024), it finds that while digital payments are growing and the share of cash in transactions is declining—especially among younger and middle-aged people—cash continues to play important roles: older adults use it more for everyday purchases, younger people often keep cash at home for precautionary reasons, and all age groups increasingly view it as an important payment option. The resilience of cash is shaped by overlapping factors such as habit, limited substitutability of digital payments, privacy and crisis concerns, and demographic shifts—meaning future payment systems should ensure continued access to and acceptance of cash alongside digital options, supporting payment choice, inclusion, and economic stability.
#Cash#Europe#Payments#Fintech#DFC
·ecb.europa.eu·
Decoupling age, period and cohort from euro cash use
2025 Diary of U.S. Consumer Payment Choice
2025 Diary of U.S. Consumer Payment Choice
The 2025 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice report from the Federal Reserve Financial Services shows that despite increasing digitalization, U.S. consumers continue to use cash and keep it handy. The report found that consumers made an average of 48 payments per month in 2024, with cash use remaining stable at 7 payments per month. Cash was the third-most-used payment instrument after credit and debit cards, and households earning less than $25,000 per year and adults 55 and older relied more on cash.
#Cash#Payments#UnitedStates#Fintech#DFC
·frbservices.org·
2025 Diary of U.S. Consumer Payment Choice
Incorporating Trip-Chaining to Measuring Canadians’ Access to Cash
Incorporating Trip-Chaining to Measuring Canadians’ Access to Cash
Household mobility data can improve our measurement of access to cash. The existing literature typically assumes that households visit their nearest ABMs or financial institution branches from their homes, without combining cash withdrawals with other activities (i.e., on their way to shopping). However, the typical approach neglects two realistic features: The first is that, due to spatial agglomeration, cash access points could be co-located with popular points of interest, such as retail service centers; and, second, households could combine multiple trips, via trip-chaining, to reduce travel costs. Our paper employs smartphone data to construct an improved cash access metric by accounting for both spatial agglomeration and households’ travel patterns. We find that incorporating trip-chaining into the travel metric could show that travel costs are from 15% to 25% less than not incorporating trip-chaining and that the biggest decrease is driven by rural residents.
#Cash#Fintech#Canada#DFC
·bankofcanada.ca·
Incorporating Trip-Chaining to Measuring Canadians’ Access to Cash
Safeguarding consumers’ access to cash in the digital economy
Safeguarding consumers’ access to cash in the digital economy
The OECD published a paper that presents the impact of digitalization on access to cash and summarizes policies and measures enacted to ensure access to and acceptance of cash. Governments around the world are reacting to this decline by putting in place laws and regulations to protect access to cash for citizens. A few countries , such as New Zealand, have gone further to trial new mechanisms for operating in a 'less cash' environment, such as using multi-bank ATMs; reducing distances to shared ATMs ('smart placement');local cash recycling capabilities. Australia and UK are integrating Post Offices into their cash networks. But as cash is likely to be round for several decades, new approaches will be needed, such as rationalization of denominations and ATMs that recycle cash (which already exist but are not widely used), more use of stored value cards (SVCs), to provide 'change'.
#Cash#Fintech#OECD#DFC
·oecd.org·
Safeguarding consumers’ access to cash in the digital economy
And so we pay: more digital and faster, with cash still in play
And so we pay: more digital and faster, with cash still in play
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Committee on Payment and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) published a brief that highlights key retail payment trends based on 2023 data collected from member jurisdictions. It demonstrates that the use, or volume, of cashless payment methods continued to grow in 2023 and that consumers increasingly choose to pay digitally for small value transactions. Although broad based, the growth in cashless payments was especially strong in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs), driven by a sharp increase in the use of credit transfers (mostly fast payments) and e-money. It also finds that the uptake of fast payments is generally higher in jurisdictions with lower levels of cash in circulation and wider use of payment cards, especially for small payments. However, the demand for cash withdrawals generally remained stable compared with previous years.
And so we pay: more digital and faster, with cash still in play
#Cash#FastPayments#Payments#FinTech#BIS#CPMI#DFC
·bis.org·
And so we pay: more digital and faster, with cash still in play
Costs of Cash and Card Payments from a Consumer Perspective
Costs of Cash and Card Payments from a Consumer Perspective
The costs of payment methods for consumers are difficult to determine, not recorded in a harmonised manner on an international level and consequently vary significantly from country to country. For this reason, a separate study is necessary for Germany. As part of a representative survey conducted in 2023, households were asked about the costs they incurred when using various means of payment. Financial costs were recorded, including fees for account management, ATM cash withdrawals or for payment cards, as well as the financial impact in the case of loss or fraud. Non-monetary costs in the form of the time required and the costs of data disclosure were also included.
#Cash#Germany#Fintech#DFC
·bundesbank.de·
Costs of Cash and Card Payments from a Consumer Perspective
Could Digital Currencies Lead to the Disappearance of Cash?
Could Digital Currencies Lead to the Disappearance of Cash?
The IMF published the results of a study that employs a two-sided market model to examine how payment systems might respond to new currencies. Numerical simulations indicate that the success of a new currency hinges on a large-scale launch. However, even unsuccessful attempts could disrupt existing systems, potentially resulting in the elimination of cash. If cash plays a critical role as a safeguard, regulatory and monetary authorities should give due consideration to ensure its continued availability when payment innovations are introduced.
#Fintech#Cash#DFC
·imf.org·
Could Digital Currencies Lead to the Disappearance of Cash?
Canadians’ access to cash in 2023
Canadians’ access to cash in 2023
The Bank of Canada published the results of a study that evaluated Canadians' access to cash in 2023, updating previous metrics on travel distances to automated banking machines (ABMs) and financial institution (FI) branches with improved quality checks on ABM locations. Despite a small decrease in the number of ABMs and branches since 2019, overall access to cash has remained unchanged, with Canadians needing to travel an average distance of 2.0 kilometers from their home locations to reach the nearest ABM and 4.6 kilometers to reach the nearest FI branch. Rural Canadians continue to travel farther to access to cash, with an average travel distance of 3.9 km to the nearest ABM and 9.7 km to the nearest branch, highlighting the need for continued monitoring in rural areas.
#Canada#Cash#Fintech#DFC
·bankofcanada.ca·
Canadians’ access to cash in 2023
Access to Cash in Australia
Access to Cash in Australia
Cash plays an important role in the community as a means of payment, store of value and a backup to electronic payment methods. Because of this, the RBA places a high priority on Australians continuing to have reasonable access to cash services. Since 2017, the closure of bank branches and bank-owned ATMs has led to increased distances to access cash services provided by banks, particularly in regional and remote areas. However, despite the significant reduction in bank-owned cash access points since 2017, the distance that most Australians have to travel to reach the nearest cash withdrawal point has not changed markedly in recent years. This is mainly because of the strong geographic coverage of Bank@Post and independently owned ATMs. As the number of locations where people can access cash has declined, some communities are vulnerable to a further withdrawal of cash services.
#Australia#Cash#Fintech#DFC
·rba.gov.au·
Access to Cash in Australia
Digital Banking: Argentinians are Increasingly Using Online and Mobile-based Apps for Everyday Transactions Due to COVID-19
Digital Banking: Argentinians are Increasingly Using Online and Mobile-based Apps for Everyday Transactions Due to COVID-19
In Argentina, where most people prefer to make cash payments, a strict nationwide lockdown (due to COVID-19) has forced local consumers into considering digital banking and online payments options.
#Fintech#Cash#Payments#MobileMoney#Pandemic#DFC
·crowdfundinsider.com·
Digital Banking: Argentinians are Increasingly Using Online and Mobile-based Apps for Everyday Transactions Due to COVID-19
Australia central bank mulls lowering e-payments charge
Australia central bank mulls lowering e-payments charge
The Reserve Bank of Australia is conducting a review of retail payments regulation and will consider reducing the cost of electronic payments for both merchants and consumers given the current COVID-19 related reluctance to use cash. ATM withdrawals were down by 30% from March to April and down by more than 40% from a year earlier. However merchants have been hit by higher charges when debut card payments are automatically routed through certain international payment schemes. https://www.rba.gov.au/speeches/2020/sp-ag-2020-06-03.html
#Fintech#MobileMoney#Cash#Pandemic#DFC
·finextra.com·
Australia central bank mulls lowering e-payments charge
Why coins are scarce and what government, banks are doing about it
Why coins are scarce and what government, banks are doing about it
U.S. federal regulators and financial industry representatives are expected to release a set of recommendations on how to jump-start the circulation of coins, which has slowed to a crawl during the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, a number of banks are offering consumers bonuses for change brought in, stockpiling coins and strategically moving coins among branches. For example, the Community State Bank in Wisconsin has launched a Coin Buyback Program that paysa 5% premium for change.
#Fintech#Cash#Pandemic#DFC
·americanbanker.com·
Why coins are scarce and what government, banks are doing about it
How the pandemic has clogged the global economy with paper currency
How the pandemic has clogged the global economy with paper currency
The outbreak of Covid-19 has caused a global increase in the amount of cash in the economies of Canada, Europe, US, and the UK. But the big increase in cash-in-circulation is not due to an increase in withdrawals of cash. There is much less cash being returned to banks and ATMs - businesses and individuals simply aren't redepositing their banknotes. This article argues that is probably being driven by an unwanted accumulation of cash by crooks, because the network of restaurants and other businesses that they rely on to launder their funds have all shut down thanks to virus fears and lockdowns. So throughout the pandemic they have been accumulating ever more cash from the drug using customers, with no place to offload it.
#Fintech#Cash#DFC
·jpkoning.blogspot.com·
How the pandemic has clogged the global economy with paper currency
Fed report shows consumers are keeping more cash on-hand during the COVID-19 pandemic
Fed report shows consumers are keeping more cash on-hand during the COVID-19 pandemic
70% of U.S. consumers say that COVID-19 concerns have not caused them to avoid carrying or storing cash, according to a recent Fed survey. indicates that survey participants more than doubled the amount of cash they store at home and also increased the amount of cash they carry in their wallets.
#Fintech#Cash#Pandemic#DFC
·frbsf.org·
Fed report shows consumers are keeping more cash on-hand during the COVID-19 pandemic
Cash and COVID-19: The impact of the pandemic on demand for and use of cash
Cash and COVID-19: The impact of the pandemic on demand for and use of cash
This Bank of Canada study examines how the pandemic has influenced the demand for and use of cash using data from its Bank Note Distribution System. These data show that the value of notes in circulation grew sharply in March and April. Part of the increase reflects precautionary steps taken by financial institutions to increase their cash inventories during the pandemic, given concerns about possible disruptions to cash transportation services, and to reduce the risk of cash stockouts from potential customer demand. The flow of cash deposits from retailers to financial institutions, which would typically help replenish institutions’ note inventories, was disrupted during the pandemic. As a result, financial institutions compensated for this shortfall by drawing cash from the Bank of Canada.
#Fintech#Cash#Payments#Pandemic#DFC
·bankofcanada.ca·
Cash and COVID-19: The impact of the pandemic on demand for and use of cash
2019 Cash Alternative Survey Results - Bank of Canada
2019 Cash Alternative Survey Results - Bank of Canada
The Bank of Canada's latest Cash Alternative Survey (CAS) found that Canadians’ cash holdings remain stable, and crypto-asset adoption remains limited and concentrated among few demographics. It found that only 5% of Canadians own crypto-assets (5%), though 85% had heard of them. 8% of people classed as having low financial literacy said they own crypto-assets, compared to 4% among those classed as having high financial literacy. But 90% of people with high financial literacy are aware of crypto-assets, versus only 72% of those with low financial literacy.
#Fintech#CryptoAssets#Cash#DFC
·bankofcanada.ca·
2019 Cash Alternative Survey Results - Bank of Canada
Payments go (even more) digital
Payments go (even more) digital
This commentary looks at the payments landscape through the lens of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) 2019 Red Book statistics. It shows how consumers are increasingly shifting from physical to digital instruments, promoting efficient, faster and more convenient payments. However, cash, and in some jurisdictions, other paper-based payments such as cheques remain important payment instruments. In more than half of the CPMI jurisdictions, "cash is still king" and its circulation continues to grow. In the same time frame, more than half of the CPMI countries have experienced a switch from physical payment instruments to digital payments.
#Fintech#Payments#Cash#DFC
·bis.org·
Payments go (even more) digital
South Africa ditches paper cheques
South Africa ditches paper cheques
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB), Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) and the Banking Association South Africa (BASA) are jointly communicating to the public that the issuing and the acceptance/collection of cheques will cease, effective from 31 December 2020. https://www.resbank.co.za/Publications/Detail-Item-View/Pages/Publications.aspx?sarbweb=3b6aa07d-92ab-441f-b7bf-bb7dfb1bedb4&sarblist=21b5222e-7125-4e55-bb65-56fd3333371e&sarbitem=10388
#Fintech#Cash#Payments#DFC
·finextra.com·
South Africa ditches paper cheques
Gradual change seen in euro area payment behaviour
Gradual change seen in euro area payment behaviour
The European Central Bank (ECB) reported that Euro area consumers are gradually shifting towards cards for in-person retail payments, although cash remained the most used instrument at the end of 2019. In 2019, euro area adult consumers used cash for 73% of their point-of-sale and person-to-person retail transactions (48% in value terms). In a previous ECB study conducted in 2016, the figure was 79% of these transactions (54% in value terms). The ECB carried out an ad hoc survey in July 2020 that found that 40% of respondents had used cash less often since the start of the pandemic.
#Fintech#Cash#Payments#DFC
·ecb.europa.eu·
Gradual change seen in euro area payment behaviour
France to Shut Almost 40% of Cash-Handling Centers
France to Shut Almost 40% of Cash-Handling Centers
The Bank of France will shut down more than a third of its cash handling centers by the end of 2022 as the Covid-19 pandemic accelerates a decline in the use of notes and coins. Operations will cease at 14 of the 37 centers that stock currency and replace damaged notes and coins. The central bank estimates the network would be 40% underused if it remained as expansive as it is now.
#Fintech#Cash#DFC
·bloombergquint.com·
France to Shut Almost 40% of Cash-Handling Centers
Nine-in-ten of all UK in-store card payments made with contactless
Nine-in-ten of all UK in-store card payments made with contactless
The Coronavirus pandemic has cemented the role of contactless as the preferred way to pay in the UK, accounting for nine-in-ten of all elgible card transactions in 2020, according to figures from Barclaycard. In a survey of 2,000 people conducted by Which?, 34% reported being unable to pay with cash at least once when trying to buy something since March, when coronavirus restrictions were first introduced.
#Fintech#Cash#ContactLessPayment#DFC
·finextra.com·
Nine-in-ten of all UK in-store card payments made with contactless
China central bank urges wider acceptance of cash as payments go digital | Reuters
China central bank urges wider acceptance of cash as payments go digital | Reuters
On December 15, 2020, the Peoples' Bank of China has called for wider acceptance of cash in economic activities and vowed to punish those who refuse to accept cash payments in the wake of a widening gap in access to digital services. http://www.pbc.gov.cn/goutongjiaoliu/113456/113469/4144232/index.html
#Fintech#Cash#DFC
·reuters.com·
China central bank urges wider acceptance of cash as payments go digital | Reuters
Cash in the Pocket, Cash in the Cloud: Cash Holdings of Bitcoin Owners
Cash in the Pocket, Cash in the Cloud: Cash Holdings of Bitcoin Owners
"We estimate the effect of Bitcoin ownership on the level of cash holdings of Canadian consumers. Bitcoin ownership positively correlates with cash holdings even after accounting for selection into ownership via a control function approach. On average, Bitcoin owners hold 83 percent (in 2018) to 95 percent (in 2017) more cash than non-owners. Focusing on the quantiles of cash holdings, we find that Bitcoin ownership has a highly nonlinear effect. For example, the difference in cash holdings between Bitcoin owners and non-owners in 2017 varies from 63 percent at the 25th quantile of cash to 176 percent at the 95th quantile of cash. Our results provide some evidence to reject the hypothesis that new digital currencies or technologies, such as Bitcoin, will lead to a decline in cash holdings."
#Fintech#CryptoAssets#Bitcoin#Cash#DFC
·bankofcanada.ca·
Cash in the Pocket, Cash in the Cloud: Cash Holdings of Bitcoin Owners
Israel bans use of cash for purchases larger than NIS 6,000
Israel bans use of cash for purchases larger than NIS 6,000
The law to reduce the use of cash is intended to assist in the fight against black capital and criminal activity. The law sets restrictions on the use of cash and checks and applies to a dealer, private individual, tourist, accountant and attorney when providing "business service" to a customer. From August 1, the maximum amounts allowed for cash use will be updated: in transactions with dealers - NIS 6,000 and between private individuals - NIS 15,000. https://www.gov.il/en/departments/topics/cash-use-reducetion/govil-landing-page
#Fintech#Cash#FinancialIntegrity#DFC
·msn.com·
Israel bans use of cash for purchases larger than NIS 6,000