Online banking preferred payment option for Canadians
Chequebooks, paper bank account passes and even mailed statements are becoming relics in Canadian households. In the 2011 TD Canada Trust Everyday Banking Poll, 76 percent of Canadians said they now use online banking to pay their bills.
It’s the preferred method of bill paying for 65 percent of the country, with preauthorized debits (16 percent), branch banking (8 percent), telephone banking (5 percent) and ATM payments (3 percent) far behind. Two percent of respondents still prefer to put a cheque the mail.
It’s been a relatively fast jump for online bill payment, said the survey. Canadians say the most significant change in banking habits over the past five years has been adopting online banking (46 percent), followed by paperless recordkeeping (12 percent) and viewing statements electronically (10 percent).
“Anytime and anywhere, Canadians are increasingly turning to online banking for its convenience, security and ability to simplify how they manage their everyday finances,” says Raymond Chun, Senior Vice President, TD Canada Trust. “Online banking gives Canadians access to banking information whenever they need it – and they can also use a tablet or smartphone to check account balances, pay bills and make transfers.”
But Chun says there is still an opportunity for Canadians to take advantage of other banking services that will help make saving and managing finances even easier. According to the poll, less than half of Canadians (43 percent) take advantage of pre-authorized payments, only 8 percent use mobile banking and only 28 percent use automated savings programs.
“Setting up pre-authorized debits to pay credit card and other bill balances each month is a simple and effective way to ensure payments are never missed. This saves money on late fees and interest and helps maintain a credit rating,” says Chun. “With mobile banking, you can access your accounts, transfer funds or make payments with your mobile device anytime, from almost anywhere in the world.”
The TD Canada Trust Everyday Banking Poll also found that 18-to-34 year old Canadians are the most likely to use a mobile app for banking (19 percent versus 8 percent overall), for activities such as: checking account balances (18 percent versus 7 percent overall), making transfers (10 percent versus 4 percent overall) and paying bills (8 percent versus 4 percent overall). The majority of Canadians who don’t use mobile banking say it’s because they don’t have a smartphone (66 percent) or they perceive it to be unsafe (14 percent) or too expensive (12 percent).
