Interac® holiday spend data provides insight into Canadian shopping trends

What will Canadian shoppers do this year?

TORONTO, Dec. 9 /CNW/ - In anticipation of this year's busy December shopping period, Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation (Acxsys) are pleased to release their holiday spend data revealing insights into the shopping behaviours of Canadians during this festive time of year.  Based on proprietary data, results detail spending habits of shoppers who used Interac Debit, Interac Online, Interac e-Transfer ^TM and Cross Border Debit in December 2009 - and help predict 2010 holiday shopping trends. 

"The transactional data provides a glimpse into where, when and how Canadians are using their Interac debit cards to buy everything they need for the holiday season," said Caroline Hubberstey, Director, Public and Government Affairs, Interac Association and Acxsys Corporation.  "Whether it's shopping for turkey and all the fixings at the local grocery store, taking coworkers out for festive lunches at restaurants, or buying family members their must-have presents at their favourite retailer, we expect Canadians to continue to rely on Interac and Acxsys products for this year's holiday spending." 

Deck the malls with last-minute shoppers 

Data shows that Canadians have historically had last-minute shopping fever, waiting until December 23^rd to make key purchases.  In 2009, this day not only reflected the month's greatest amount of spend for in-store Interac Debit purchases ($860 million), but it also marked the busiest shopping day with the highest number of in-store Interac Debit transactions (16.1 million).  This day continues to be the busiest shopping day of the year (up from the 15.9 million transactions processed on the same day in 2008). 

Jingle bell shop

Shoppers can make trusted, convenient and reliable transactions using Interac Debit at more than 400,000 merchant locations across Canada. In December 2009, the following seven merchant categories ranked the highest based on in-store transactions using Interac Debit:

Rank	Merchant categories	Number of transactions	Amount of spend
1.	Supermarkets/Grocery stores	82,474,843	$3,661,567,442.06
2.	Restaurants	51,951,133	$959,065,693.37
3.	Service stations	24,618,160	$1,202,399,640.08
4.	Discount stores	21,872,085	$1,359,580,743.63
5.	Drug stores/Pharmacies	18,541,698	$1,040,197,658.66
6.	Beer/Liquor/Wine	16,385,255	$811,982,556.26
7.	Clothing and accessories	11,605,286	$1,204,715,122.31

All I want for Christmas is an Interac e-Transfer

Uncertain what to buy your niece who has everything?  Owe your brother money for your parent's gift?  Paying back your friend for a ticket to the New Year's Eve party?  In December 2009, Canadians relied on Interac e-Transfers to transfer nearly $425 million ($424,632,227) directly from one person's bank account to another. With popularity of the service increasing year-over-year (up 38.2 percent in transactions and 45.1 per cent in dollar volume from October 2009 to October 2010), Interac e-Transfers allow Canadians to simply and securely transfer funds using online banking and email notifications. 

Rockin' around the family PC with Interac Online

Interac Online is accepted by more than 500 Canadian online merchants today, making it one of the leading online debit payment services in Canada. It lets Canadians shop securely over the Internet using funds withdrawn straight from their bank account through web banking.  For the month of December 2009, the top three merchant categories ranked by number of Interac Online transactions were: Internet and telecommunications; leisure and entertainment; and music and movies. And remember, the Interac Zero Liability policy protects cardholders when making debit transactions, including Interac Online. They are not liable should fraudulent or unauthorized purchases occur.

Oh come, all ye cross-border shoppers 

The number of financial institutions participating in Acxsys Corporation's Cross Border Debit service enables more Canadian cardholders to use their debit card to shop at more than two million merchants in the United States, such as Target, Nordstrom and Macy's.  Canadian sun seekers dominated debit purchases in the U.S. with the highest number of transactions taking place in Florida.

Top five States by percentage of debit transactions made in December 2009:

Rank	State	Percent of total transactions
1.	Florida	22%
2.	New York	15%
3.	Washington	11%
4.	Michigan	10%
5.	California	6%

About Interac Association
A recognized world leader in debit card services, Interac Association is responsible for the development and operations of the Interac network, a national payment network that allows Canadians to access their money through Automated Banking Machines and point-of-sale terminals across Canada.

Interac Association was founded in 1984 and is comprised of a diverse membership that includes banks, trust companies, credit unions, caisses populaires, merchants, and technology and payment related companies.  

Other related services offered by Acxsys Corporation, whose shareholders are the architects of the Interac network, include: Interac Online, for secure online payments directly from a bank account; Interac e-Transfer, for the transfer of money from a bank account to anyone with an email address; and international services, which provides Canadian cardholders with point-of-sale access at nearly 2 million U.S. retailers, and PULSE, Discover, Diners Club International and Unionpay cardholders access to ABMs in Canada.

About Acxsys Corporation
Acxsys Corporation, comprised of eight large financial institutions as shareholders, is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The Corporation's shareholders are the architects of the Interac network, Canada's national debit network. Acxsys specializes in the development and operation of new payment service opportunities, as well as consulting and management services in the field of electronic payments. Acxsys Corporation businesses include the operation of the Interac e-Transfer service, the Interac Online service, and international services, through agreements with NYCE Payments Network, PULSE, and UnionPay. For more information, please visit www.Interac.ca.

®, TM:  Interac, the Interac logo and Interac e-Transfer are trade-marks of Interac Inc. Used under license.
Financial institutions participating in Interac Online include: RBC Royal Bank; Scotiabank; TD Canada Trust and Bank of Montreal.
Protection applies to losses resulting from circumstances beyond the cardholder's control.  Some conditions apply.  Read more about the Interac Zero Liability Policy at Interac.ca
Financial institutions participating in Acxsys Corporation's Cross Border Debit service include: ATB Financial; Desjardins; National Bank of Canada; RBC Royal Bank; Scotiabank; and TD Canada Trust.

For further information:

Teri Murphy
Interac Association/Acxsys Corporation
416-869-7171 or [email protected]