TransUnion trends 2024-2025: opportunities for Quebec SMEs

TransUnion’s latest reports on credit and fraud in Canada offer valuable insights for Quebec SMEs. Between the rise in credit, the gradual stabilization of certain debts and the explosion in fraud-related losses, business leaders now have concrete data with which to adjust their financing, online sales and risk management strategies. In 2025, total consumer debt in Canada reached approximately 2.6  trillion, up 4.1 % on the previous year, with 1.89 billion in mortgages and 673 billion in non-mortgage debt([transunion.ca](https://www.transunion.ca/iir/reports/q3-2025?utm_source=openai)). At the same time, Canadian businesses would lose nearly $111 billion to fraud in 2025, or 7.2% of their revenues, up 42% on 2024([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/canadian-business-leaders-say-fraud-cost-their-businesses-72-of-equivalent-revenues-synthetic-identity-fraud-losses-surge–transunion-study/?utm_source=openai)). For Quebec SMEs, these TransUnion trends aren’t just warning signs: they’re also opportunities to optimize their customer relationships, secure their digital journeys and differentiate themselves through AI, CRMs and smarter e-commerce platforms.

1. Strategic reading of TransUnion trends for Quebec SMEs

The latest TransUnion reports show a cautiously recovering credit environment, but with areas of fragility that SMEs need to understand. In the third quarter of 2025, total consumer debt in Canada stood at around $2.6 trillion, up 4.1% year-on-year, driven by mortgages (+4.1%) and non-mortgage debt (+4.3%)([transunion.ca](https://www.transunion.ca/iir/reports/q3-2025?utm_source=openai)). This context means that consumers – and therefore your customers – still have significant access to credit, but with increasingly marked differences between regions, including Quebec, where late payments have risen more sharply than average([globenewswire.com](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/11/25/3194069/0/en/Canadians-Take-on-More-Credit-Amid-Lower-Interest-Rates-as-Mortgage-Churn-Rises-and-Economic-Disparities-Deepen.html?utm_source=openai)).

For a Quebec SME, these figures translate into three key observations:

• Consumers remain active: the growth in credit balances indicates that households are continuing to consume and finance their purchases, particularly online and on credit.
• The risk of late payment is growing for certain segments: the increase in late delinquencies in provinces such as Quebec means that credit assessment and internal credit policies must be more rigorous.
• Trust is becoming a competitive advantage: in a context where household finances remain under pressure, customers are looking for companies that are transparent, secure and able to offer them suitable terms and conditions.

TransUnion is also seeing slower growth in credit card balances and personal loans than in previous years, a sign that consumers are becoming more cautious, while lenders are tightening their criteria([transunion.com](https://www.transunion.com/blog/q3-2024-credit-industry-insights-report?utm_source=openai)). This mix of caution and the need for flexibility creates an ideal breeding ground for SMEs that know how to exploit their customer data intelligently.

In concrete terms, these trends open the door to :

• More targeted financing offers (instalments, subscriptions, in-house loans) based on internal scoring fed by CRM data.
• Finer segmentation of customers by payment behavior, sector and region.
• The use ofartificial intelligence and chatbots to better qualify prospects, reduce friction and support customers in their financial decisions.

To take full advantage of these TransUnion trends, Quebec SMEs need to move from a reactive approach (i.e., endure the credit/fraud environment) to a proactive one: structure their data, equip their teams and automate their sales and risk management processes.

2. The explosion of digital fraud: a threat or an opportunity for differentiation?

Recent TransUnion studies are clear: digital fraud has become a major cost for Canadian businesses. In 2025, executives surveyed estimate that fraud represented an average of 7.2% of their revenues, for a total of $111 billion, compared with $78 billion in 2024 (+42%)([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/canadian-business-leaders-say-fraud-cost-their-businesses-72-of-equivalent-revenues-synthetic-identity-fraud-losses-surge–transunion-study/?utm_source=openai)). Yet, at the same time, the rate of suspicious digital transactions where the consumer is located in Canada fell from 5.4% in the first half of 2024 to 4.2% in the first half of 2025([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/canadian-business-leaders-say-fraud-cost-their-businesses-72-of-equivalent-revenues-synthetic-identity-fraud-losses-surge–transunion-study/?utm_source=openai)). Fewer attacks proportionally, but more sophisticated and costly.

The 2024-2025 trends highlighted by TransUnion include :

• A sharp rise in synthetic identity fraud, which accounts for around 26% of total losses([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/canadian-business-leaders-say-fraud-cost-their-businesses-72-of-equivalent-revenues-synthetic-identity-fraud-losses-surge–transunion-study/?utm_source=openai)).
• Massive use of social engineering scams, accounting for 29% of losses([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/canadian-business-leaders-say-fraud-cost-their-businesses-72-of-equivalent-revenues-synthetic-identity-fraud-losses-surge–transunion-study/?utm_source=openai)).
• Attacks were particularly concentrated in online communities, gaming and certain retail segments, with double-digit increases in suspected fraud rates([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/transunion-study-finds-more-than-half-56-of-canadians-said-they-were-targeted-by-fraud-in-second-half-of-2024/?utm_source=openai)).

These figures are also reflected on the consumer side: more than half (56%) of Canadians say they have been targeted by fraud attempts in the second half of 2024, and almost one in five (17%) say they have lost money, with a median loss of over $2,000([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/transunion-study-finds-more-than-half-56-of-canadians-said-they-were-targeted-by-fraud-in-second-half-of-2024/?utm_source=openai)). Crucially for SMEs, 39% of Canadians cite fear of fraud as the main reason for abandoning an online shopping cart, and 46% place security of personal data as the number one criterion when choosing a company to do business with([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/transunion-study-finds-more-than-half-56-of-canadians-said-they-were-targeted-by-fraud-in-second-half-of-2024/?utm_source=openai)).

For a Quebec SME, the stakes therefore go beyond simple “fraud protection”:

• It’s a direct lever for conversion (fewer shopping cart abandonments, more completed forms).
• It’s a brand argument (positioning on transparency, security, trust).
• This is a competitive advantage over competitors who settle for minimal solutions.

In practice, this means :

• Integrate identity verification, anomaly detection and risk scoring mechanisms natively into your online stores.
• Link these signals to a modern CRM to track incidents, complaints and suspicious behavior at customer level.
• Use AI chatbots to respond in real time to customer doubts about security, reassure and guide them (2FA, order verification, anti-fraud advice).

In a context where trust is becoming as important a criterion as price or quality, Quebec SMEs that invest early in the security and transparency inspired by TransUnion data position themselves as reliable partners, not just suppliers.

3. From TransUnion data to action: optimizing sales and risk management

TransUnion trends provide a macro snapshot of the Canadian market. The real value for a Quebec SME is revealed when these trends are linked to its own customer data and internal processes. Studies show, for example, that companies today consider the most effective anti-fraud solutions to be identity verification, device reputation and behavioral biometrics([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/canadian-business-leaders-say-fraud-cost-their-businesses-72-of-equivalent-revenues-synthetic-identity-fraud-losses-surge–transunion-study/?utm_source=openai)). These same technologies can also be used to enhance the customer experience: smoother paths for good customers, tighter controls for risky profiles.

Three concrete lines of action are emerging for SMEs:

1) Structure and centralize customer information

Without a consolidated view of the customer, it’s impossible to cross-reference risk signals with sales opportunities. A CRM adapted to SMEs enables :

• Track payment history, late payments, disputes and fraud incidents by customer.
• Segment by region (e.g. Quebec), sector, account size and buying behavior.
• Connect data from your online store, billing system and customer support in a single tool.

2) Putting AI to work for qualification and prevention

TransUnion’s information on the rise in sophisticated frauds, such as synthetic identity, highlights the importance of advanced analysis mechanisms([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/suspected-digital-fraud-coming-from-canada-up-nearly-11-since-h1-2023-reveals-new-transunion-analysis/?utm_source=openai)). Thanks toAI and chatbots, an SME can :

• Real-time analysis of site behavior (form filling speed, inconsistencies, geolocation) to detect weak signals.
• Dynamically trigger additional checks (SMS code, e-mail, CAPTCHA, voucher request).
• Adapt the commercial offer (payment terms, internal credit limit, deposit) according to a personalized risk score.

3) Modernize the e-commerce experience and site creation

TransUnion reports point out that fear of fraud leads a significant proportion of consumers to abandon their shopping baskets and even applications for financial products([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/transunion-study-finds-more-than-half-56-of-canadians-said-they-were-targeted-by-fraud-in-second-half-of-2024/?utm_source=openai)). By working with a specialized agency, you can :

• Design a website architecture that highlights reassurance elements (certifications, security policies, legal notices, anti-fraud FAQs).
• Integrate recognized payment solutions with strong authentication and PCI-DSS compliance.
• Optimize your e-commerce journeys to limit unnecessary friction while retaining essential controls.

By combining macro data from TransUnion with micro data from your CRM and digital platforms, you can turn a complex reality (rising debt and fraud) into a concrete decision-making system: who to target, how to sell, with what conditions and what protection.

4. Building a resilient digital ecosystem in Quebec with Nuaweb

The TransUnion 2024-2025 trends clearly show that SMEs can no longer treat credit, fraud, e-commerce and customer experience as separate issues. When you consider that :

• The volume of consumer debt continues to grow, particularly in Quebec, with marked regional disparities([transunion.ca](https://www.transunion.ca/iir/reports/q3-2024?utm_source=openai)).
• Fraud-related losses jumped 42% year-on-year to $111 billion([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/canadian-business-leaders-say-fraud-cost-their-businesses-72-of-equivalent-revenues-synthetic-identity-fraud-losses-surge–transunion-study/?utm_source=openai)).
• More than half of Canadians report having been targeted by fraud attempts in just a few months([newsroom.transunion.ca](https://newsroom.transunion.ca/transunion-study-finds-more-than-half-56-of-canadians-said-they-were-targeted-by-fraud-in-second-half-of-2024/?utm_source=openai)).

it’s becoming clear that digital resilience is now a prerequisite for sustainable business growth.

Nuaweb works with Quebec SMEs on these very issues:

• AI and automation: implementing chatbots, virtual assistants and AI logic capable of filtering requests, monitoring suspicious behavior and personalizing the customer experience.
• CRM and sales performance: integration or optimization of CRM management tools to centralize data, monitor risk indicators and pilot campaigns adapted to the economic context.
• Secure website creation: design storefront and transactional sites optimized for conversion, compliance and security, with clear communication on your data protection practices.
• Robust e-commerce: development or redesign of online stores interfaced with your payment systems, anti-fraud tools and CRM.
• Content and video strategy: creation of educational content (articles, videos, FAQs) to raise customer awareness of anti-fraud best practices and build trust in your brand.

This type of integrated digital ecosystem is particularly relevant in the Quebec context, where many SMEs operate in sectors highly targeted by fraudsters (retail, services, tourism, telecoms), while having to deal with a specific regulatory and tax environment. With TransUnion’s insights and a technology partner like Nuaweb, you can turn a perceived risk environment into a real competitive advantage.

Conclusion: turn TransUnion trends into a concrete action plan

TransUnion’s 2024-2025 data leaves no doubt: the combination of persistently high debt levels, growing regional disparities and more costly digital fraud than ever is forcing a new way of steering SMEs in Quebec. Yet behind these risks lie real opportunities: to know your customers better, secure your digital journeys, increase your conversions and build a brand based on trust.

The question is no longer whether to act, but how to do so in a pragmatic and profitable way. Nuaweb can help you translate these TransUnion trends into a concrete roadmap: audit your digital ecosystem, define key indicators, choose tools (AI, CRM, e-commerce) and roll out progressively.

Would you like to turn these trends into an advantage for your Quebec SME? Schedule a free strategic consultation with our team via this contact form. Together, we’ll make your data, security and customer experience the pillars of your growth.