Canadians Embrace Value and Convenience From New Banking and Payment Technologies-CBA Research

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 15, 2014) - The Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) today released the results of its latest research, How Canadians Bank, which shows that Canadians of all ages are embracing new technologies in their daily lives and value innovative ways to make their banking more accessible and convenient.

Keys trends include the fact that online and mobile banking use continues to grow and payments are quickly evolving as mobile wallets and "tap and go" contactless payments become more widely available.

"Bankers from the 1970s would be astonished at the technologies being used for everyday banking today," said Terry Campbell, president of the Canadian Bankers Association. "Canadians are now checking account balances using their bank's mobile app, flashing their phone to make purchases and taking pictures of cheques to deposit them from their mobile phone. It's hard to imagine what we'll be doing 10 years from now."

Mobile banking and payments growing rapidly

• 31 per cent of Canadians do some banking using their mobile device, up from only 19 per cent in 2012.

• While the technology is relatively new, three per cent of Canadians have deposited a cheque by taking a picture with their mobile phone.

• 57 per cent of Canadians value making purchases with a mobile device and 61 per cent value contactless payments.

• 23 per cent of Canadians said they don't think they will be carrying cash in 10 years and 54 per cent don't anticipate using cheques.

Online banking grows while branch, ABM and telephone banking decline

• Online banking is the preferred method of banking for 55 per cent of Canadians, up from only 16 per cent in 2002, and 77 per cent report having done some online banking in the past year.

• Half of people over the age of 65 bank primarily online now.

• 40 per cent say that their in-branch banking is decreasing, with only 13 per cent of Canadians now doing the majority of their banking in branches.
  

• Online banking remains the most common method of paying routine bills for 48 per cent of Canadians, followed by pre-authorized bank account withdrawals (18 per cent). Only two per cent now pay most of their bills by cheque.

• 72 per cent of respondents report that new technologies have added a great deal of value to their banking and 90 per cent appreciate being able to bank at times that are convenient to them.

More of the key findings from the How Canadians Bank research can be found at: http://ow.ly/C70CN

Survey Methodology

The survey was commissioned by the CBA and conducted by Abacus Data. The findings are based on a phone-online hybrid survey of 1,250 Canadians aged 18 and over conducted from May 27 to June 2, 2014. Results are valid within +/- 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

About the Canadian Bankers Association

The Canadian Bankers Association works on behalf of 60 domestic banks, foreign bank subsidiaries and foreign bank branches operating in Canada and their 280,000 employees. The CBA advocates for effective public policies that contribute to a sound, successful banking system that benefits Canadians and Canada's economy. The Association also promotes financial literacy to help Canadians make informed financial decisions and works with banks and law enforcement to help protect customers against financial crime and promote fraud awareness. www.cba.ca.

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