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  • Frank Tian

Q4 '21: Canadian Card Down Significantly

Updated: Dec 21, 2022

๐Ÿ’ณ The Canadian credit card balance is still down significantly.

๐Ÿข The speed of recovery is slower than consumer spending.


Source: Globe and Mail


Reasons


๐Ÿ‘‰ Restricted activities caused by the virus


๐Ÿ‘‰ Higher savings from stimulus measures


๐Ÿ‘‰ Alternative payment tools



Results


๐Ÿ”ปLower balance = lower interest income


๐Ÿ”บMore transactors + more card-not-present transactions = higher fees

The latter cannot fully offset the former,


๐Ÿ’ธ So the overall profitability is still down.



Actions


Card issuers roll out new products to target segments with high spending growth (travel, grocery).


Consumers should take advantage of low rate/high reward offers - enjoy a break from growing high-interest debt.



Further reading:

Globe and Mail, James Bradshaw, "Big banks credit-card profits slow to recover as Canadians carry lower balances".



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