Is cashless society now becoming a reality in Canada?

Global News has tracked down how the society in Canada is going cashless with time.

The report by the Global News has shown how businesses are carrying out non-cash transactions.

Mad Radish, a business run by David Segal, is fully cashless. When Segal decided to start his business, one thing he rejected was the cash drawer.

Mad Radish provides healthy meals and salads.

Segal was quoted as saying: "I don’t think you have to anymore. There’s very few people who don’t have a debit or credit card, or both, in their wallets."

He stated there are very less number of people who feel hesitated to go cashless.

"Yes there’s the occasional person who doesn’t like it but the response has been overwhelmingly positive" Segal added.

Report said, according to Bank of Canada, only 23% of people used cash for transactions in 2013. However, many suggested the percentage of cash transactions is expected to come down by next 10 odd years.

An associate professor at Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Retail Management, Norman Shaw, felt the electronic mode of payment will certainly become dominant with time, though he believes the cash transactions will not disappear immediately.

Shaw told Global News: “It’s the convenience and the speed. The banks and the payment companies have done a very good job of putting tap-and-pay terminals everywhere, and consequently, it’s very easy to go with your credit card and just tap and pay."

Gary Tymoschuk, vice-president of operations for the Credit Counselling Society, highlighted the opposite side of the prism.

He said the use of electronic modes of payment may indulge people to spend more money because of its convenience. Tymoschuk believes if one does not have a proper budget plan, might lose track of where the money has been spent.

(Reporting by Souvik Ghosh)

Image: Creative Commons.