Interac says that Canadians have reached a money movement milestone.  Interac e-Transfer usage has crossed a new threshold, reaching more than 1 billion transactions over a 12-month period for the very first time in the 20-year existence of the service.

Interac surpassed the milestone in April 2022, which represents a transaction increase of 16% over the previous 12-month period.

This comes as a recent Interac survey, described in more detail below, finds that younger generations, including Gen Z adults and Millennial Canadians, are using Interac e-Transfer to split the cost for a range of shared experiences.

The survey found that nearly nine in 10 Canadians (88%) have used Interac e-Transfer.

Canadians have relied on this product to move $338 billion over the past 12 months, and over $625 billion since the pandemic began, with 49% indicating that they have increased their use in this period.

More than half of users (56%) leverage the service to split the cost of experiences with family and friends at least once a month. Interac transaction data validates this trend with Interac e-Transfer Request Money usage, a feature that facilitates the process of asking for money, growing by 126 per cent over the past 12 months.

“Canadians have long embraced Interac e-Transfer to send money, but recent rapid growth may demonstrate that the service has achieved a new relevance as Canadians return to the shared experiences that may have been out of reach in the earlier stages of the pandemic,” said Anurag Kar, AVP at Interac Corp.

“While young Canadians might be eager to expand their social circles through these shared experiences, they’re often splitting the costs associated with them as a means of helping stay in control of their money and turning to Interac e-Transfer to do so.”

The survey found that seven in 10 Canadians (74%) want to spend more time having fun experiences with friends and family after the intensity of the pandemic.

They are looking forward to reunions with friends and family (70%), upcoming birthdays and anniversaries (60%) and travel (58%).

This trend is particularly visible among younger Canadians, with nearly two thirds of Gen Z (65%) expressing the desire to engage in shared experiences to make new memories.

Key findings:

• Climbing cost of living: All generations share a concern about inflation (80%), with six in 10 Canadians (63%) stating they are more cautious about their finances than ever before. Younger Canadians are more likely to say that high inflation has made splitting the cost of expenses essential (62% of Gen Z vs. 44% of Boomers).
• Living life to the fullest: Younger Canadians are also more likely to believe that splitting the cost of shared experiences with friends and family allows them to get more out of life while staying within their budget (67% of Millennials vs. 49% of Boomers).
• Creating connections: Seven in 10 Gen Z adults (70%) say they missed out on important shared experiences with friends and family during the pandemic and want to make up for lost time. This cohort also would rather spend their money on experiences than material goods (55% of Gen Z vs. 43% of Boomers).
• It’s the little things: Smaller scale experiences we might once have taken for granted are a source of excitement for many Canadians, including meeting friends for a meal or drink (70%), arts and cultural outings (38%) and sporting events (34%).
• Avoiding awkward conversations: Young Canadians prefer to pay their share as soon as possible to avoid an awkward conversation later (73% of Millennials) and believe that using Interac e-Transfer is the simplest way to split the cost of experiences with others (69%).