Canadians are anxious to expand their transaction options, especially in terms of mobile payments. In fact, the country's consumers are second only to Singapore in their overall preparedness to embrace the trend, according to the MasterCard Mobile Payments Readiness Index (MPRI).

The study examined public data, the company's own internal figures and market research to determine which countries are receptive and ready to embrace three types of mobile payments: person to person, mobile e-commerce and mobile payments at the point of sale.

With an overall score of 42, MasterCard believes that Canada is a likely candidate to begin broadening their payment processing options in the near future. For consumers, this predicted trend is good news. Shoppers always value more ways of completing transactions and the ability to choose between cash, cheque, credit card, debit card and mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops will provide them with never-seen-before levels of choice and variety.

But what does it mean for merchants?

To keep up with the public's growing appetite for new payment options, businesses must always ensure their pos terminals are current, effective and reliable. Discussing the latest models and services with merchant services providers can help give merchants information about the most up-to-date and in-demand equipment.

MasterCard's research shows that, as mobile technology improves, Canadian shoppers will likely be quick to embrace it. Merchants who have outdated payment processing systems - or worse, those who don't accept credit cards at all - may find themselves at the back of the pack. In order to avoid this and keep their customers happy, credit card processing merchants should work diligently to stay in the loop regarding modern transaction processing technology.