Payments Consultant

Check out this opinion piece from Visa:

Industry Opinion
New code for debit, credit cards leaves consumers out
Toronto Globe and Mail

I’m not sure what is more interesting, the overall subject, the article by Visa (and the fact they wrote one), or the comments. I was surprised by the number of comments on what seems to be an obscure topic, and also by the strong opinions of what seems to be a large percentage of readers.

For those following the Canadian market, this is a fascinating subject. How will the EMV, Contactless and soon NFC rollout affect the market share of debit in Canada? Keep in mind for non-Canadian readers, debit is a huge part of the Canadian payment space – and Canadians overwhelmingly prefer Debit to Credit for transactions from $25-100. My expectation is that with contactless debit deployment, you will see increases in debit penetration among lower average tickets, eventually eclipsing cash.

Virtually all debit in Canada to date has been on the non-profit Interac association, who has applied to become a for-profit entity to compete with Visa and MasterCard. Adding to the intrigue, the Canadian Competition Bureau just announced a decision to deny Interac’s request.

It will be VERY interesting to see how this plays out.

You can see more at the Double Diamond Group website, including relevant payments industry news, information on our payments consulting practice, payments industry hot topics and more.

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