Interac reports that the volume of Interac Flash transactions grew by two-thirds in July 2020 compared with April.5 Consumer surveys also report that contactless payments have increased.6 The Bank of Canada has been carefully watching these trends. We are particularly interested in how the pandemic has changed the way that Canadians purchase goods and services.
Turning to financial markets, corrections we saw after the Russian invasion of Ukraine have remained largely orderly. But high volatility in some commodity prices has triggered liquidity stress in related derivatives markets. An increase in initial margin requirements has greatly increased firms’ liquidity needs, making it more difficult for some firms to hedge.