CASHLE$$ CANADA?

The trend toward digital payments could shortchange this country's most vulnerable

- Lucy Uprichard

Early in the pandemic, "dirty money" started to take on a new, rather literal, meaning as businesses across Canada banned the use of cash. Before we understood the coronavirus's aerosol-based transmission, every surface seemed a threat: doorknobs, groceries and, of course, money. By May 2020, the number of "tap and go" transactions escalated so dramatically that the Bank of Canada issued a plea for retailers to continue accepting notes and coins "to ensure Canadians have access to the goods and services they need."

There's no question that printed or minted currency is grubby (paper banknotes, studies demonstrate, can be covered in everything from E. coli to fecal matter). But we now know that its likelihood of spreading the coronavirus is as low as any other high-traffic surface. Still, the reluctance among businesses and consumers to handle money might prove hard to shake. E-commerce has been dethroning cash in Canada throughout the past decade, and experts believe the pandemic has accelerated the trend.

Indeed, according to a 2021 report from Payments Canada, around 40 percent of Canadians say the pandemic made them uncomfortable handling cash. As Canada is projected to face a 70 percent drop in usage by 2030, we have to reckon with the consequences of a mass switch to digital payments.

Those consequences will likely be invisible to those of us who don't have to worry about accessing bank accounts and credit cards. But if you're someone who does have to worry, the digitization of the economy could likely make it difficult to pay for food and transit. In our rush to abandon cash under the guise of progress, are we leaving behind the people who rely on it most?