Report by FICO
2025 Consumer Survey: Canada Fraud, Identity and Digital Banking
Key Findings
81% of Canadians rate the security of fingerprints and facial recognition as good or excellent.
49% of Canadians reported experiencing more frequent identity verification checks while logging into bank accounts.
Over 40% of personal loan, credit card, and card loan Canadian applicants expect to spend less than 30 minutes opening a checking account.
17% of Canadians have reduced or stopped using credit cards due to the difficulty of identity checks, which is slightly higher than in 2023.
Nearly 20% of Canadians will abandon a checking account if identity checks are too difficult or time-consuming.
71% of Canadians rank the use of stolen identity to open an account as a top three fraud concern.
40% of Canadians believe it’s unlikely that their identity has been used to open an account.
31% of Canadians are now more likely to open a financial account online than they were a year ago.
15% of Canadians have reduced or stopped using their checking accounts due to the difficulty of identity checks.
49% of Canadians reported experiencing more frequent identity verification checks during online purchases.
Nearly one-third of Canadians view first-party fraud, such as providing false information on financial applications, as acceptable in certain circumstances or even normal behaviour.
30% of Canadians rank good fraud protection as one of the top three considerations when selecting a new account, while 71% rank it in their top three overall.
23% of Canadians are confident their identity has never been used to open an account.
32% of Canadians say they are more likely to open a financial account digitally than they were a year ago.
62% of Canadians report they either like or have a strong preference to use fingerprints for security.
6% of Canadians reported their stolen identity was used by a criminal to open a financial account (approximately 8 million victims), an increase from 5% in 2023 and 5.6% in 2020.
6% of Canadians reported their stolen identity was used by a criminal to open a financial account (approximately 8 million victims), an increase from 5% in 2023 and 5.6% in 2020.