New survey suggests link between rise in digital payments and need for greater control
Young Canadians are increasingly concerned about their money and personal finances, which is leading to a rise in digital payments and debit.
That’s the word from Interac, a digital payment and money transfer service provider, which conducted a survey of nearly 1,000 adult residents of Canada from August 25 to 31.
When split by generation, Interac said the survey results show more than half of Gen Z adults and millennials (53%) report a higher level of concern than ever about managing their finances ever since the COVID-19 outbreak hit.
According to the survey, over half of millennials (58%) and Gen Z adults (54%) are spending more on essentials and less on discretionary purchases. A slight majority of millennials (53%) said they’re more cautious about going into debt because of the pandemic, and 63% reported plans to make their finances more resilient in case another crisis occurs. Similarly, 62% of Gen Z adults said they wanted to take more control of their spending post-pandemic.
The survey also found that young Canadians were more likely to harbour concerns of overextending themselves (50% of millennials, 47% of Gen Z adults) than members of other generations (31% of baby boomers, 36% of the Silent Generation). Because of that, Interac said, 50% of younger respondents including millennials and Gen Z are making use of digital payments as a real-time way to monitor their spending.
“[O]ur research reveals that younger Canadians value digital payments for the insight they provide into their spending habits and are turning to debit payments as a money management tool,” said William Keliehor, chief commercial officer at Interac.
Just over half of millennials (52%) and Gen Z adults (57%) said that using debit curtails their tendency to buy things they don’t need. And contrary to previous research pointing to risks, respondents cited debit payments as a way to feel more in control of their money (52% of millennials, 48% of Gen Z), which in turn creates more optimism for their financial future. (67% of millennials, 59% of Gen Z).
With respect to actual use of digital payment services, 64% of millennials and 58% of Gen Z adults said they increased their usage over the course of the pandemic; 46% of Canadians overall said they’re using the Interac e-Transfer platform more, with 52% saying they use it twice a month now versus just 39% who said so before the outbreak.
