DEBIT CARDS POPULAR WITH CANADIANS
By Adnews Staff
Canadians used debit cards last year to purchase goods and services four times more often than their U.S. counterparts, according to a study by Payment Systems International of Tampa, Florida. Canadians increased the number of debit card purchases, called Interac Direct Payment, to 393 million in 1995, an increase of 111% from 1994. In the U.S. debit card purchases increased only 25% over 1994. Total awareness of debit cards by Canadians reached almost 96% in 1995, compared to 66% of U.S. consumers. More than 200,000 merchants in Canada are expected to offer the Interac Direct Payment service by the end of 1996. Currently 151,000 have the service. Deloitte & Touch Retail Practice senior manager Rajiv Mathur says in a release that debit card purchases could account for about 15% of total personal expenditures by 1998.