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01/09/2009 -
Canadian consumers are starting to pull out their plastic once more, as Statistics Canada reported this week that personal and small business borrowing increased in the second quarter of 2009.Overall household borrowing increased to $98.3 billion in the second quarter, marking a significant increase over the previous quarter's $65 billion, while consumer credit increased by 19 percent to $26.9 billion.
In addition, lower interest rates encouraged consumers to use credit, as the debt service ratio declined from 7.8 percent to 7.7 percent.
Bond rates also favored borrowers, as provincial and corporate bond issuances represented more than 40 percent of total funds raised in the second quarter.
The improved borrowing and credit numbers come on the heels of other encouraging reports from Statistics Canada, which announced this week that personal spending reversed the 0.4 percent decline seen in the first quarter to post a 0.4 percent increase in the second quarter.
For Canadian merchants, these statistics highlight the importance of making their business as accessible to consumers as possible, especially during this period of renewed spending. As the credit and borrowing data indicate, consumers are increasingly choosing credit cards to pay for their purchases, making credit card processing and other payment card acceptance more crucial than ever.
