Surprisingly, fifty-one percent of people in Canada use cash for the majority of all their transactions. Despite the exponential rise in credit and debit card usage, Canadians still prefer cash. Given that they’re quicker and easier to use, many expected people to be using cash less often. Where cash is no longer king is for big-ticket items, and instead it is used for small-value transactions. In terms of the overall dollar value, credit cards appear to be the payment option of choice. Credit cards offer various incentives and “free perks,” which cost Canadians over $10 billion in 2014 in hidden costs for processing fees. The average credit card transaction costs a merchant $2.08 to process it versus 30 cents for debit cards and 29 cents for cash.

Read more: More than half of all sales in Canada still done in cash, Bank of Canada survey says