Canada is one of the world’s most cashless societies, with 62 percent of surveyed Canadians saying they are using less cash now compared to their spending before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The reasons for going cashless are easy to understand: it is quick, you never have to rummage around for exact change and digitized spending leaves a much smaller environmental footprint. Also, particularly in a pandemic, it reduces the touch points we all share.
But the move into cashless business has a big cost. A 2019 study showed that 17 percent of the UK’s population would “struggle to cope in a cashless society.” The Bank of Canada has been urging retailers to continue accepting cash as legal tender since May. And countries, like Sweden, are taking a serious look at how they can digitize the economy, without leaving many people behind in the process.
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The reasons for going cashless are easy to understand: it is quick, you never have to rummage around for exact change and digitized spending leaves a much smaller environmental footprint. Also, particularly in a pandemic, it reduces the touch points we all share.
But the move into cashless business has a big cost. A 2019 study showed that 17 percent of the UK’s population would “struggle to cope in a cashless society.” The Bank of Canada has been urging retailers to continue accepting cash as legal tender since May. And countries, like Sweden, are taking a serious look at how they can digitize the economy, without leaving many people behind in the process.
Read more
The reasons why the CJEU decided to protect the right to pay in cash
