Payment Surprises from an Immigrant in Canada

“So, what’s the biggest culture shock you’ve faced since your move?”

This is one of the most common questions people ask me. Not surprising because although life in Lagos (Nigeria) and Toronto (Canada) is similar in some ways, it is also vastly different.

The divergence is glaring in payments. No one actively thinks about this, but you can’t get through life without being able to pay and receive payments. You don’t notice payments until the moment you can’t pay when you need to…and then it becomes a frustrating inconvenience (like having to take out another card or cash to try making the payment again) or an infuriating disruption (like not being able to pay for your groceries at the counter because you’ve got just the one card which didn’t go through).

Overall, seamless payments are essential to life. So as an immigrant, getting used to how payment is done in your new home is essential to settling down. That said, here are some culture shocks I experienced.

Why can’t I just open the bank account?

I had to make an appointment to open a bank account. I found this shocking. Opening an account is one of the first things you do when you move because you’ll want to move your funds over. And get a locally issued card that won’t charge you foreign exchange fees at every tap. So obviously, this is a process you want to get done as soon as possible. But in Toronto, you have to make an appointment to open one in a major, reputable bank. This is vastly different than being able to walk into a major bank branch in Lagos and just get it done immediately. Even if the appointment means a day or two delay, it’s a day you don’t want to waste.

Why do I have to wait for my debit card?

The last time I got a new card in Lagos, I went to the bank branch on a random day, handed over my expired debit card, and got a newly printed replacement. It took 15 minutes. Admittedly, I was pretty upset once I opened my account and was told that I had to wait 5 working days to get my debit card. I’d have been more upset if I knew that it would actually take almost two weeks.

This was especially frustrating for me because most card use in Nigeria is debit cards. But the country has been experiencing a foreign exchange deficit that meant I had a limit on how much Dollars I could spend on my card in a day - in fact, USD 20 a month at that time. This was extremely restrictive for someone who needed to buy food, move around, live? I had some cash, but it was running out, so waiting for a card gave me a special type of anxiety those couple of weeks.

The bank tried to reduce the long wait time, but with disappointing results. They provided me with a virtual card that could only be used for online purchases. I chose this option, but it didn't work at all stores - not at Uber, not at Walmart. This caused me anxiety as I was unsure whether it would go through since I couldn't pay everywhere.

Eventually getting my debit card was such a joyful moment!

Why can’t I pay you in cash?

This was probably a result of the pandemic. But there were restaurants that I hopped into that refused to accept cash as payment. Due to my $20 card limit, I tried to pay with cash whenever possible. Knowing that this was not possible everywhere added to my anxiety during those first few weeks. My experience made me realize that regardless of the benefits of digital payments, there should always be room for cash. Without it, many people will be excluded from the basics of life even if they have the money to pay. Having many payment options is key!

What’s a bank draft? What’s a cheque?

Toronto’s real estate market uses a lot of cheques and bank drafts. I had to pay my first landlord in cheques because that was their preference. And I had to consistently hand over cheques to book elevators in my condo. Although cheques are used in Nigeria for enormous transactions, they aren’t typically used for such everyday activities (e.g. related to housing). But in this case, I’ve used it so many times that I now know exactly how to fill each section of the cheque book. I didn’t know how to before.

How do I get a credit card? How do I use it?

Barely 2% of Nigerians own a credit card. I’d never owned one before moving to Toronto so it was a learning curve - a steep one. I had a lot of reading to do - about how to choose a credit card and how to use one responsibly. Good thing there’s quite a bit of literature available on the net to do so. Given that I was starting from scratch with my credit score, I opted for a Capital One secured credit card - locking up a whopping $300 that I constantly felt sore about. I gradually got a good enough score to qualify for an unsecured, normal card.

The steepest curve though, was learning how to optimally use and repay my credit card. Do I wait till my statement or pay ad-hoc? What should I use my credit card for versus my debit card? How do I remember to pay on time? How do I spend within my credit limit? How do I optimize timing between making the payment, the payment registering with my credit card provider because the bill payment wasn’t real time, and avoiding interest? How do I improve my credit score to get a larger limit? There was actually a lot to learn, and quite a bit of trial and error.

Ooooooh, rewards!

Apparently, you can get enough rewards (by spending like you normally would on your credit card) to actually get sizeable cash back, or redeem your previous purchases and pay less on your credit card bill. Now this one was the most pleasant surprise. Who doesn’t like freebies?!

There are also other reward opportunities outside of the credit card. Popular grocers like Loblaws, Metro, Costco, have pretty reasonable loyalty programs such that it makes sense to use them if you regularly shop there. I slept on a number of loyalty programs when I didn’t know any better. However, it does take some organizational skill to be able to manage across these disparate programs. Loyalty and rewards are not at all common in Nigeria, so another learning curve.

Just tap!

Contactless payments are huge in Toronto! All you need to do is tap your card and you’re good. You don’t even need your card. You can load the card on Apple Pay and tap your phone. Honestly, it’s freeing to be able to do this. In fact, what’s my PIN again? Almost 80% of payments you physically make will be within the $250 tap limit anyway, so doing this (rather than inserting then inputting your PIN) takes a load off the entire process. This is vastly different in Nigeria where you do insert your PIN or you skip the card and pay with a bank transfer via SMS/USSD code - both of which take much longer than the tap.

Why is there a lag?

You have to be a masterful planner to make sure that your bills are actually paid and acknowledged by the deadline, or that you’ve sent enough money to yourself or friend/family by the date they actually need it - because you have to account for a lag between the date you sent and the date it’s received. Especially important if you want to avoid an unnecessary interest on your credit card bill. Or if you want to make sure your credit score doesn’t take an unnecessary hit because of a late phone bill payment.

This took some intentionality on my part because I was used to paying the bill and it immediately being paid.

Pay only a fourth now? Sweet!

Buy Now Pay Later / Instalment payments actually helped me a lot to settle down. It’s almost everywhere on ecommerce sites. I had huge bills because of furniture, winter clothes and electronics, and it would have been a massive hit on my budget and funds having to get all these at once. Being able to use this feature seamlessly can save your budget from tumbling down the dark abyss. This payment feature wasn’t available in Nigeria, unfortunately; it would be greatly useful there.

Suddenly so many cards in my wallet

A downside to being in a card-heavy market like Toronto is that you start having to deal with so many cards! Your debit card(s), credit cards (secured and regular), reward cards, favorite retailers co-brand cards for their rewards, and remember my Nigerian bank cards. It’s…a lot. So being intentional and strategic about how you pay in Toronto is significantly more important than in Nigeria.

Overall, there have been frustrating moments when it comes to paying in Toronto, but there have also been rewarding experiences. I'm glad I have had the opportunity to understand how payments work in everyday life across two vastly different cities and markets.