61% of Canadians expect to be using a digital wallet by 2019

A report prepared by the Ontario-based company Rogers Communications has found out that 61 percent of Canadians expect to convert their current physical wallet into a digital one by 2019. 

The document also claims that it has discovered a new demographic group, the Generation D. “This group lives and breathes life through mobile devices and shares an optimistic view of what’s next”, states the study, quoted by Let’s Talk Payments. The report includes the answers of over 1,000 participants over 16 years old, who were surveyed by Harris-Decima between the end of November and the beginning of December.

Rogers states that most Canadians – 61 percent – expect to change from physical to virtual wallets, which would include debit and credit cards and personal identification data, until 2019. A technology that the Bitcoin community has been developing and using almost since the creation of the cryptocurrency.

The report also discovered that 52 percent of the smartphone owners spend an average of 70 percent of their day with their phone within reaching distance. But there are more valuable findings:

• 28 percent of the respondents are willing to skip morning coffee in exchange for anytime, anywhere internet. Eight percent are willing to give up their cars for the same.
• 50 percent of the people seem to think that face-to-face interactions to be completely replaced by virtual communication by 2019.
• 25 percent of Canadians admit to Facebook Instant messaging or tweeting someone while in the same room; 52 percent Gen Y tapped into this trend. The most popular app was facebook (74 percent) for majority of Canadians and SnapChat for Gen Y (46 percent).
• 49 percent of the television viewers claimed that they would take to social media with the intention of altering a show’s plot by voting in real time.
• 84 percent believe that cars will provide weather alerts and foresee accidents.
• 25 percent of the Canadians envision themselves using at least two connected accessories within the next five years.

Infographic by Rogers via Newswire

Besides, this Generation D quoted by Rogers’ study expects the smartphone of 2019 to be equipped with retina scanner, mind e-reader and augmented reality. In less than six years, these devices should also have 3D screens.

Hyun-Hee Pyun, vice-president of marketing at Rogers Communications, says the “enhanced networks are leading to a rise in internet usage in Canada, creating ‘Generation D’: a group that lives and breathes life online and that shares an optimistic view of what’s next. Over the next few years, technology will continue to shift into high gear, offering consumers completely personalized connected experiences anytime, anywhere”.