This could be speeding up the cashless society. It is amazing here in New Zealand how quickly they are moving towards it. ATM's are running out of cash and they seem slow to fill them up - many shops are illegally refusing cash money payment for things as well.
It is illegal, but what can you do when other people are waiting!
I love coins. Especially silver, gold and anything really old.
Member of the Royal Numismatic Society of New Zealand and the Auckland Numismatic Society
This push towards a cashless society bugs me to no end.
First off, many banknotes are polymer & as such are being used much longer than the 3-5 year lifespan (more like 5-10 for polymer) so if the note passes along 10,000 people that's no big deal in a decade of use. (In fact, in the case of polymer, $ is not being passed along in Countries like UK, NZ or Canada where cash is dwindling in use). Secondly, the push for less cash is a push for less privacy (pure & simple). Don't be a victim of the propaganda pushed by the "Better than Cash Alliance"funded by Gates & other billionaires who prefer to monitor everything you purchase.
Think, instead of countries who've experience the worst of what climate change is wreaking (Hurricanes in Puerto Rico/Cyclones in Bangladesh) & what those poor people will do trying to EMT or use cards when electrical is down. Even Sweden (the country closest to being cashless) is have a change of heart after discovering Russian subs off their coasts (& re-thinking their national emergency preparedness plans). People - you need a reserve of cash! Like it or not: always have some cash (on hand or) to use in case of an emergency & please don't get too docile over gov/billionaires push on going "cashless." Recognize propaganda for what it is. Don't get lured into the simple-minded ads/campaigns on how using less cash will prevent the spread of COVID19. NO -wash your hands & stay home (wear a mask) etc for protection! If you can use EMT (or cashless) payments fine- but don't go pushing the elimination of your freedoms on everyone.
Interesting Globe & Mail piece Camerinvs. Yes, the BOC has a monopoly on cash & see it in their best interest to keep it relevant. But so do people since cash can be (or should be) used at any time. IMO: its a shame that VISA, The BTCA & government (big brother agencies) are fine with pushing consumers to pay with credit/& or digital (with loyalty points & propaganda).
For a more balanced look at cash, I enjoyed this article a few years back:
The BOC have long known that going cashless threatens their monopoly but also see its relevance for a healthy economy. Here's a little more elaborate look at their exploration of further going digital. Keep in mind that only 5-10% of all commerce is via cash for most countries anyway (large transactions have long been wired/digital or the balancing of books). This latest attack on cash (vilifying it as a carrier of this virus) is just so shallow & simplistic.
Quote: "FlyingRedPanda"Cash will never cease. You go into a shop and the card-reader is done? Gotta pay in cash. Don't have cash? Ooops guess you can't buy what you need.
Work small jobs for cash in hand? Guess you'd need to buy a portable card-machine I guess.
Cash is eternal, Cash will only disappear when society has no use for it but such an advanced utopia will never happen in our lifetimes.
"F..R..P" IMO: it's really important to realize this has nothing to do with the actual elimination of cash per se. It's more about turning cash into a "dirty concept" or as a "less desired method of payment." Think of this "cashless" term like "smoke-free" when applied to "environment." The Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) rather we all swipe cards for every transaction in order to provide them with data (which they can further peddle). That (along with certain gov agencies/certain state-control governments such as China, Russia, etc) it is their idea of "utopia" for how it erodes users' privacy. (for example- the BTCA don't approve of bitcoin since tracing its trade can become much trickier).
The idea of society going cashless is actually unrealistic but the BTCA push it into our minds like an insidious ideology entering into mainstream society's perception of "cash users" as the 'rebels.' I have had all sorts of disdainful grimace n' grunts when I hand over cash during this COVID 19 crises & many clerks launch into speeches about how dirty cash is & "please use a debit/credit card next time!" Countless retailers are absolutely convinced I'm doing something 'less' "hygienic." But you're right -cash will always be around & it seems to be disappearing from ATM's at a rapid rate right now.
IMO: Nevertheless, the BTCA are revelling in another successful campaign of casting dirty shadows on cash. They've been using this pandemic to further push a "cashless" ideology on gullible debit/credit users. They hope everyone will look at cash in a similar negative vein (now certain that mainstream healthy-minded individuals will mind cash users like non-smokers tolerate smokers). They hope cash-users will be perceived as a minority/nuisance segment of society & I just pray the majority won't be duped down this path.
COVID-19 has caused more Canadians to hoard $50 according to this Bloomberg update. The increase use of cash has also been noted by the BOC (Bank of Canada) in this recent article. The institution anticipated a possible cash shortage and arranged stockpiles for the various Cash Distribution Centres throughout Canada. CDN's (on a whole) have been making runs on their ATM's.
This does not surprise me b/c shortly after the emergency shutdown we heard about new $5 prefixes in Quebec (always the first province to get the new stuff!) on another CDN website. I've also personally observed newer prefixes for some denominations since the lockdown started months ago.
This demand for cash I find ironic since the BTCA have increased their propaganda on mainstream tv (& upped their internet smear campaign game) to vilify cash use as a possible "dirty" vector of COVID-19. A lot of the younger generation have bought into the BTCA campaign. BTCA's continued policy to entice merchants to switch to explicit use of credit/debit cards during these "unprecedented times" has been super successful but the reality of getting older CDN's to go cashless hasn't really panned out.
Not a very good thing for people who still get paid cash in hand & don't have a bank account.
I have always paid my tax to the local council, "council tax" into a machine in their office block using mostly 50p coins with the odd £2.00 coin thrown in to make up the numbers, this year I have been informed that they have done away with the machine and that I have to pay on line with a direct debit. It looks like I will have to do this for my parking permit as well.
