North America

Generation Z, comprising one-fifth of the global population, is poised to wield significant consumer influence. However, their polarized behaviours toward social activism, technology, and spending present challenges for businesses. This report…

Technological advances in 2024 will continue to reshape consumer behaviour. This annual report explores the top five digital shopper trends that will redefine commerce the most in the year ahead. Some of the trends included in this report’s edition…

As in so many cases, perhaps the biggest story for store cards in the US in 2023 has been the twin forces of high inflation and high interest rates. While inflation has crept down over the course of 2023 in the US, the price increases that have…

2023 is likely to go down as the first generally “normal” year of the 2020s. While 2022 saw most companies return to at least some form of hybrid working, the emergence of the Omicron variant early in the year had a significant effect on the overall…

The biggest news of 2023 has been administrative, with the Federal Reserve fighting inflation and the threat of recession. With inflation well above recent norms in 2022, the Fed spent roughly 18 months in a constant dance of deciding whether to…

Fraud has hit debit cards hard in the US in recent years. Significant increases in card not present fraud have been recorded in the market in 2023, and are a legitimate concern for those in the financial industry. A significant threat to card usage…

Credit cards in the US is set to continue to see robust growth by all measures in 2023. While inflation in the country has generally been at lower levels than in the extreme outlier year of 2022, prices have still grown considerably, and some US…

Charge cards as a whole has been performing well in 2023, and it is expected to continue to grow beyond pandemic lows. Consumer spending in 2023 has driven payments across all card types, with the return to travel remaining an important storyline – a…

This report examines inflation levels and drivers globally and in key countries in Q4 2023 and 2024. Global inflation is moderating, although divergence remains among the key economies. Higher volatility in the energy markets and disruption of…

Store cards is recording only low growth in Canada in 2023, for several reasons. A glaring limitation lies in store cards’ narrowed reward horizons, compounded by a restricted usability across disparate retail chains. This inherent constriction has…

Pre-paid cards is seeing continued robust rises across all metrics in Canada in 2023, with growth in some areas outshining that of 2022. This is in large part thanks to a wave of innovation from card issues that is redefining the landscape. One of…

In the wake of Covid-19 there was a notable shift away from cash transactions, while in 2023 (as in 2022) the retail value of personal cash transactions is rising rapidly. However, the surge has been fuelled by the inflation surges of 2022 and 2023.…

Canada's labour force shortage has placed mounting pressure on smaller businesses. Traditional checkouts are giving way to efficiency as s retailers scramble to optimise checkout speeds, and there is a growing trend of merchants leaning into…

In the latter half of 2022, Canada opened its doors, discarding travel restrictions and welcoming a surge of new students and workers from overseas. Canada's financial institutions greeted these newcomers with a generous $2,000 credit card limit, and…

The primary challenges facing consumer lending in 2023 have been a continuation of 2022’s twin factors of higher inflation and increasing interest rates. While the story in 2022 was one of largely unchecked inflation affecting much of the US economy,…

Canada's credit landscape in 2023 is showing rises in lending, with more Canadians gaining access to lending products via traditional financial institutions and private lenders. At the same time, as the cost of living bears down on Canadians, thanks…

2022 and 2023 saw some of the most rapid increases in lending interest rates in US history. During the pandemic, many interest rates approached record lows, leading consumers to refinance debt, and leading to a generally free lending environment. In…

In 2023 the Bank of Canada has tweaked its prime interest rate several times. The impact on the housing market has been a rise in household mortgage debt. Consumers with variable rate mortgages or on the cusp of renewals have been struck especially…

Growth continues to slow for charge cards in Canada in 2023, with the category’s relevance fading rapidly. One reason is lack of availability, with American Express morphing many of its charge cards into the realm of traditional credit cards. For the…

In the upcoming years, consumers and businesses face an array of challenges, with rising income inequality being among the key ones. Nevertheless, addressing the income inequality through catering to the Bottom of the Pyramid and the Middle Class…