By 2030, cash will account for only 10 percent of purchases in Canada, according to a prediction by Moneris Solutions Corp., a Canadian card processor. This compares with 35 percent of transactions in 2014, a company press release said.

This 70 percent decline will coincide with an increase in the use of digital payment technologies, especially among younger Canadians, Moneris said. The company's survey of Canadians found that 67 percent aged 18–34, 56 percent aged 35–44, 48 percent aged 55–64, and 49 percent aged 65 and older, preferred to use a contactless-enabledcard to make purchases — the same tap-to-pay method used in mobile wallets 

"More Canadians — especially younger ones — are tapping their cards to pay as opposed to inserting them into payment terminals," a Moneris spokesperson said about the trend. "We've seen the number of contactless transactions more than double this year, which is a strong indication that mobile payments are going to see a huge lift."

Other survey findings

Predictably, the percentage of Canadians likely to prefer mobile wallets declined with age:

• ages 18–34 — 25.3 percent;

• ages 35-44 — 23.5 percent;

• ages 45-54 — 18.3 percent;

• ages 55-64 — 10.4 percent; and

• ages 65 and older — 5.8 percent.

Canadians said they would be more likely to use a mobile wallet if:

• I knew it was secure — 61.6 percent;

• more stores I shop at accepted it — 41.9 percent;

• it were available for the kind of credit card I use — 39.8 percent;

• it were available for the kind of phone I use — 37.8 percent; and

• more people I know were using it — 36.6 percent.

Percentages of Canadians who say they use the following payment types always or often: 

• credit card — 59.7 percent;

• debit card — 55.9 percent;

• contactless enabled card (tap to pay) — 31.3 percent;

• mobile wallet (e.g., Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, etc.) — 2.5 percent;

• cash — 45.7 percent; and

• retailer app (e.g., Starbucks app) — 4.8 percent.

Canadians said they would leave their wallet at home if they could: 

• store all of my loyalty cards on my phone — 50 percent;

• get all my receipts emailed to me — 47.9 percent;

• make purchases at any store using my phone — 45.8 percent;

• store my identification (i.e., driver's license, health card, etc.) in my phone — 40.5 percent; and

• pay for public transit using my phone — 35 percent.

The online survey of 1,516 Canadians was conducted by Leger, a Canadian market research team, April 25­–28, 2016.