Payments Snapshot in Canada - Coronavirus (COVID-19) Sector Impact

Summary

The Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak, dubbed COVID-19, is first and foremost a human tragedy affecting millions of people globally. The contagious Coronavirus, which broke out at the close of 2019, has led to a medical emergency across the world, with the World Health Organization officially declaring it a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

Canada has so far recorded total confirmed cases of 113,777 - much lower compared to other developed markets such as the US, the UK, France, Italy, and Germany.

To date, fiscal and monetary measures worth around $192.34bn (11.08% of GDP) have been announced by the government. As part of its COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, on March 18 the Canadian government unveiled an economic stimulus package of C$82bn ($63.26bn). This included C$27bn ($20.83bn) in direct assistance to individuals and businesses affected by the outbreak and C$55bn ($42.43bn) in tax deferrals. The government allocated an additional C$10bn ($7.71bn) to offer loans, with a focus on SMEs.

This report focuses on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on both the economyand the cards and payments industry in Canada. Based on our proprietary datasets, the snapshotprovides a detailed comparison between pre-COVID-19 forecasts andrevised forecasts of total payment card, debit card, and credit and charge card transactions by value and volume. It also offers information on measures taken by the government to combat coronavirus.

Scope

• Coronavirus has had a profound effect on Canada’s tourism industry - a C$102bn ($78.69bn) industry with nearly 1.8 million jobs dependent on economic activity generated by travel and tourism. According to Statistics Canada there were 571,000 tourist arrivals from China in 2019; according to the Tourism Ministry, Chinese tourists spend around C$2bn ($1.54bn) annually in Canada. This figure will be significantly reduced this year due to China serving as the epicenter of the outbreak.
• However, the gradual resumption of domestic travel in some provinces will provide a much-needed push to the country’s travel industry. From July 3 interprovincial travel within Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Prince Edward Island was permitted. These developments will help revive the tourism sector, and increasing consumer spending will benefit the payment card market.
• Additionally, when shopping in-store consumers will shift from cash payments to digital payments, particularly mobile wallets, to avoid exposure to potential disease vectors such as cash and POS terminals. As a result, the use of mobile phones for payments is expected to grow. Mobile wallets such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, and RBC Wallet are likely to do well going forward as a result of this outbreak.

Reasons to Buy

• Make strategic decisions using top-level revised forecast data on the Canadian payment industry.
• Understand the key market trends, challenges, and opportunities in the Canadian cards and payments industry.
• Receive a comprehensive insight into payments market in Canada.