July-August 2010

Canadians wary about mobile transaction security

By Robin Arnfield, Editor

August 23, 2010--A survey of Canadian consumers by KPMG International has uncovered significant concerns about mobile transaction security and also about the privacy of using cloud computing services.

KPMG interviewed 300 Canadian consumers earlier this year as part of a global survey of consumers for its fourth annual Consumers & Convergence study. It found that 63 percent of Canadian consumers were "very concerned" about privacy issues when using a mobile device, compared to 59 percent for global respondents. When asked about mobile device security issues, 58 percent of Canadians said they were “very concerned,” compared to 67 percent for global respondents. Read the article.

Prospects weaken for Canadian credit card market

By Robin Arnfield, Editor

August 14, 2010--A rise in Canadian household debt, coupled with growing unemployment and credit card delinquencies are all warning signs for the Canadian credit card market, says Mercator Advisory Group. The U.S.-based consultancy makes this point in a new report, lead-authored by Patricia McGinnis, Director in its Banking Group, titled “The Canadian Credit Card Market: Tough Sledding.”

Canadian mobile payments: A reality check

The hype surrounding mobile payments in Canada has largely dissipated, according to a conference report by Rob Burbach, senior analyst at IDC Financial Insights. His report, Mobile Payments in Canada: Is the Hype Over?, covered the June 2010 ACT Canada Cardware Conference, which focused on emerging card and payment issues for Canada.

ACT Canada is a payment industry association whose members include card issuers and acquirers, card associations (Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Interac), card technology vendors, merchants, and mobile network operators.