The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that every time you make a purchase using a credit card, you support a U.S. financial giant. The Globe's Rob Carrick writes that while most credit cards in Canada are issued by domestic banks, they are also linked to Visa International, based in San Francisco; Mastercard, based in Purchase, N.Y.; or New York-based American Express. A Canadian alternative is available: Interac debit and e-transfers. "Interac is 100-per-cent Canadian," said Debbie Gamble, Interac's group head of strategy and marketing. "It was created by Canadians. It's run by Canadians. We focus only on Canadians, and we've been doing that since, well, we celebrated our 40th anniversary last November." Interac and cash are the patriotic choices for payments in a trade war with the United States. Cash and debit give you more control over your money, and also cost retailers less than when they accept payments by credit card. The most recent numbers, for 2023, show credit cards accounted for 33 per cent of transaction volume, debit accounted for 30 per cent and cash was at 11 per cent. Credit-card volumes grew by 9 per cent compared with the previous year, debit by 6 per cent and cash fell 20 per cent.