The Death of Cash

Something I haven’t read much if anything about as a side-effect of COVID-19 is the death of cash as a way of paying for things.

I have $60 in my wallet that’s been there since, what, Christmas? 

For many years I kept cash in my wallet because there were a handful of places that didn’t have payment machines: for the longest time Tai Chi Gardens was cash only, as was the sushi place Monsoon. And the Charlottetown Farmers’ Market was always generally a cash-only marketplace, although a couple of vendors allowed you to pay with square.

Today? Nothing. There’s absolutely no need to keep cash in my wallet at all.

We achieved a cashless society without even noticing.

Comments

Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on May 8, 2021 - 16:38 Permalink

Delightful irony: hours after writing this I went out to pick up takeout lunch and found the debit machine not working, so I paid with cash. 

Ann Thurlow's picture
Ann Thurlow on May 8, 2021 - 19:53 Permalink

A cashless world is impossible for poor people. They do not have bank accounts, often and seldom have debit cards. Their currency is cash. While it might be convenient to many, paying with plastic poses a burden for others. I often pay with cash, just to help keep it going.

Pedro Custodio's picture
Pedro Custodio on May 10, 2021 - 07:06 Permalink

I feel the problem we suffer, is rather the lack of thinking and inclusivity of the current financial systems and institutions we built in the development world, not so much the poorer people not being able to benefit from a cashless world - we have so many examples in this world, of poorer countries and regions that have embraced the unbanked and cashless so much faster we seem to be able in the west...

Pedro Custodio's picture
Pedro Custodio on May 10, 2021 - 07:02 Permalink

It turns out, that all we ever needed to achieve that Digital transformation we so hopped for, was not a new piece of tech, but a pandemic... hein?

Olivia Rukavina's picture
Olivia Rukavina on May 7, 2022 - 10:06 Permalink

1 year!