By Alex Dobuzinskis, The Globe and Mail | 03/05/17 12:35:13As Canada continues to grapple with the fallout from the Panama Papers leak, a new survey has found that Canadians are increasingly unwilling to use traditional credit cards, a trend that could undermine efforts to crack down on money laundering.

According to the survey of 1,400 Canadians, 56 per cent of respondents said they would not be comfortable paying with a credit or debit card, compared with just 31 per cent in 2015.

This is the highest percentage of respondents who said they wouldn’t be comfortable with a card in decades, and nearly double the percentage of people who said that last year.

While the majority of Canadians said they had used their cards in the past year, most said they were willing to pay with a mobile app or an online app, a survey of 4,000 Canadians found.

While some Canadians might think the move is just to avoid paying with cash, the survey found that 65 per cent would pay with credit or a debit card to pay for a meal, entertainment or groceries.

The survey also found that almost one-third of Canadians who used credit cards in 2015 were now using them again, and most say they are reluctant to do so.

However, the majority, 59 per cent, said they used credit or cards at least a couple of times a year, and a majority said they felt they were paying for their purchases at a fair or reasonable rate.

“The biggest surprise in the survey was how many people said they’d be willing to use a card at least twice a year if they could,” said David Aitken, senior research associate at Bank of Montreal.

“It’s very rare for people to be willing or able to pay this much in a single transaction.”

The survey also showed that Canadians were also more likely to use mobile payments than credit cards: more than three-quarters of Canadians would use a mobile payment app, compared to just under one-quarter of Canadians using a credit/debit card.