Payment card spending in Canada has recorded a year-on-year increase of 3.4% in the third quarter 2018.

The results come from a report by domestic card payments processing firm Moneris Solutions.

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The growth is marginal compared to 3.3% in the second quarter of this year, which is apparently the lowest quarterly growth experienced by the country in nearly four years.

Canada Q3 card spending reveals record increase in card payments

Majority of provinces had positive growth, with Quebec and British Columbia registering growth of 5.6% and 4.2%, respectively. This increase is more than the national spend average of 3.4%.

However, Newfoundland reported 0.3% decrease than the corresponding year ago period. The payment card spending was highest in August (4.5%), followed by July (4.1%) and September (2.7%).

Moneris president and CEO Angela Brown said: “While the last two quarters have demonstrated less dramatic growth than previous reports, it’s important to remember that any growth positively reflects the overall health of Canada’s economy.

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“The next few quarters may prove interesting if the Bank of Canada increases interest rates. This could potentially drive down discretionary purchases.”

The report further revealed that Canadians are adopting contactless payments, which accounted for 43.4% all payment card transaction, a surge of 33.3% compared to the year ago period.

In addition, foreign card spending increased during the quarter, with Americans spending the most at 12.3% increase. Payments card transactions by visitors from the UK and China also led to increase of 20.2% and 4.4%, respectively.

The foreign card spending was observed to be highest at hotels (22.7%), department stores (17.2%) and mass merchandisers (14.5%).