The current life expectancy in Canada is 82.7 - 83.3 years. The switch to cashless payments will happen sooner than 20 years.
I am amazed by the number of seniors who are very tech savvy.
The Future of Cashless payment?
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I am amazed by the number of seniors who are very tech savvy.
The govt didn't put POS stations in. Business did for inventory control, ordering systems in restaurants, and ease of cashing out at the end of shift.According to stats, in the GTA it is 66% credit/debit card purchases in retail stores. There will always be some cash transactions, but it is harder to cheat on taxes when the majority of purchases are made electronically. Since the government put in point of sales registers at restaurants and bars money laundering and tax cheating is minimized. In the future the majority of transactions will be cashless. I purchased my car on my bank debit card. You have to have the amount in your account and inform the bank that you will buy a car. They will authorise the amount and give you a 4 hour window to do the transaction.
Where did you get the idea it was a govt mandate?
I personally don't think a lot of seniors are tech-savvy. The smartphone was only invented in 2007.
Cash will only be king even though there's significant debit and credit card use. I can recall many years ago when credit cards were literally given away for people to sign up for them to be used. And it was then referred to as the "end of cash". And here we are 50+ years later and cash is still being used maybe not as much as it was in the past but cash will always exist. In fact, for many of us that have had home projects done "off the books" and for legit businesses, cash is king for a reason.
LTO_3
LTO_3
Sorry, I meant certified Sales Recording System (SRS). Which can be separate or attached to the POS system.
Restaurants and bars in Ontario must comply with mandatory billing requirements under the WEB-SRM (Web-based Sales Recording Module) system, which became effective by May 2025. As of that date, establishments are required to use a certified Sales Recording System (SRS) that is compatible with the WEB-SRM to transmit transaction data. This system ensures that every customer receives a bill, which can be provided electronically or on paper, as long as it is generated through a certified SRS. The transition to the WEB-SRM was implemented to modernize the billing process and reduce bureaucratic hurdles for operators, while maintaining the requirement for mandatory billing.
I just went and glanced at it as I hadn't heard about this. It appears to be Quebec only. Ontario may be mulling it over but at this point only collect HST and any reportage beyond that is voluntary.
What would the advantage be to the consumer or to the retailer, or to to government for this cashless society with an ultra low-cost payment processor.
I can perhaps see the advantages in India, where there are fewer reward systems, more irritating beggars, and less wealth carried around at once.
i can’t translate it to North America.
For the consumer, credit cards allow those without the current cash to buy now and hopefully pay later. That is an advantage to both the consumer and the store. These money transfer systems don’t extent credit.
For the consumer, the credit cards allow those reward system is huge, more so in the U.S. than in Canada. Chase Bank give a much higher reward package for U.S. customers signing up for its Aeroplan credit card than Canadians do for getting the Canadian card, which might even be issued through TD. Advantage consumer that it won’t want to trade in for this low-cost, no reward Indian product.
For consumers, they get a massive insurance product from their credit cards. They don’t carry as much cash for muggers, and if credit cards are lost or stolen , informing the credit card company immediately minimizes and usually eliminates loss to the consumer. These low-cost payment transfer systems don’t offer that level of insurance protection, although the fingerprint and face technology are helping minimize loss.
As I mentioned previously, the credit system lets business sale items that the purchaser wouldn’t have had the money for. The retailer pays the credit card fee in return. To get more value overall profit, many places are offering a 3-4% cash discount, so that they, and a greater number of customers feel they are in the best position. Like the customer and mugger , they bear some higher risk and extra insurance if they have significant cash. You can argue that a cashless system doesn’t hurt credit cards, but it definitely does if you allow the introduction of a low-cost person to business cash transfer system as an alternative. Like health insurance, you don’t want only the old and the sick in your plan.
I just don‘t see any of the alternatives being so superior that the government dictates the use of any one technique. Yes, the government gets more information from electronic transfers, but when it starts requiring more reporting from the low-cost transfer companies, there fees go way up to comply, or they shut down. Yes, there are fewer cash transactions, but the recession that results from people not being able to buy on credit more than negates from a tax collection perspective extra tax from these cash transactions that wouldn’t have been reported.
The conclusions these kids come to after seeing a different type of transaction in a different country just don’t generate into portability to North America.
I can perhaps see the advantages in India, where there are fewer reward systems, more irritating beggars, and less wealth carried around at once.
i can’t translate it to North America.
For the consumer, credit cards allow those without the current cash to buy now and hopefully pay later. That is an advantage to both the consumer and the store. These money transfer systems don’t extent credit.
For the consumer, the credit cards allow those reward system is huge, more so in the U.S. than in Canada. Chase Bank give a much higher reward package for U.S. customers signing up for its Aeroplan credit card than Canadians do for getting the Canadian card, which might even be issued through TD. Advantage consumer that it won’t want to trade in for this low-cost, no reward Indian product.
For consumers, they get a massive insurance product from their credit cards. They don’t carry as much cash for muggers, and if credit cards are lost or stolen , informing the credit card company immediately minimizes and usually eliminates loss to the consumer. These low-cost payment transfer systems don’t offer that level of insurance protection, although the fingerprint and face technology are helping minimize loss.
As I mentioned previously, the credit system lets business sale items that the purchaser wouldn’t have had the money for. The retailer pays the credit card fee in return. To get more value overall profit, many places are offering a 3-4% cash discount, so that they, and a greater number of customers feel they are in the best position. Like the customer and mugger , they bear some higher risk and extra insurance if they have significant cash. You can argue that a cashless system doesn’t hurt credit cards, but it definitely does if you allow the introduction of a low-cost person to business cash transfer system as an alternative. Like health insurance, you don’t want only the old and the sick in your plan.
I just don‘t see any of the alternatives being so superior that the government dictates the use of any one technique. Yes, the government gets more information from electronic transfers, but when it starts requiring more reporting from the low-cost transfer companies, there fees go way up to comply, or they shut down. Yes, there are fewer cash transactions, but the recession that results from people not being able to buy on credit more than negates from a tax collection perspective extra tax from these cash transactions that wouldn’t have been reported.
The conclusions these kids come to after seeing a different type of transaction in a different country just don’t generate into portability to North America.
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I think by seniors is probably referring to borderline GenX and some younger Boomers. Once you hit 70+ that type of engagement is pretty thin. But I can say my 90 year old dad is still working and uses the web to do it.
I think they may be more comfortable with computers than phones, even just for font size. And familiarity with typing and reading. As a gen xer I can say we have had to adapt through a crapload of tech changes. I went from a black and white tube television with 4 channels to what we have today. My top tech in school was a calculator. My research was a library. I remember the intros of the microwave, the vcr, cable TV, pay per view, brick phones, on and on.
It’s coming. The only thing preventing full adoption are the fees associated with small transactions here in Canada.
I went to the UK and Spain with 50 GBP and 50 euros 3 years ago. Came back with 50 GBP and 5 Euros. Two summers ago, I went to Spain and Portugal with 50 Euros. Came back with 50 Euros.
Last summer, I went to Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. Don’t bring any cash. Paid using credit card for everything from a coffee at a local to bottled water at a food truck. Really no need for cash there.
I went to the UK and Spain with 50 GBP and 50 euros 3 years ago. Came back with 50 GBP and 5 Euros. Two summers ago, I went to Spain and Portugal with 50 Euros. Came back with 50 Euros.
Last summer, I went to Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris. Don’t bring any cash. Paid using credit card for everything from a coffee at a local to bottled water at a food truck. Really no need for cash there.
Many cities in the States have banned cashless retail outlets as many low income people don’t have debit or credit cards.
Exactly. The fees associated with small transactions here in Canada are prohibitive. That's why wealthy people buy canadian bank shares in the stock market.
"If you can't beat them, join them."
That"s one reason we keep hearing about the cashless society, so banks can make a profit off of transaction fees. My brother used to have a medium size store with sales of about $1 million a year. He told me it cost him about $30,000 a year to have a card reader, between the rental of the reader itself and the transaction fees on credit cards. Another small business I deal with got rid of their card reader and went cash only because the cost involved to accept cards. It likely made it inconvenient for some of his customers but I don't think he cared because he has virtually no competition in the area.
If voting mattered they would genuinely care. They don't care about seniors, in fact, they don't care about anyone but themselves.
Doesn‘t it work?
For a $1 million store, if 3 percent of the credit card customers made a purchase they wouldn’t have if cash was the only mechanism available, the store broke even. A long, long time ago, stores offered their own credit with lay-away and such. A royal pain to the ass. Sometimes they did their own float and I will guarantee you their bad debts were more than 3 percent.
For the store that ditched its credit card reader, why not keep the thing and offer a 3 percent cash discount. I go to three places every weekend who do just that.
I think the current system works just fine, but the question from the original video from the YouTube types who don’t get much formal education but see things overseas and are so impressed with it, is whether North American business and consumers should gravitate toward a very low fee personal payment system that would eliminate the need for cash, presumably relegate credit card spending to just those with no current liquidity, and destroy credit card rewards for consumers?
My answer to them is that I doubt it. There is more value to consumers and to business by the choice of either using cash or credit cards, and the 3 percent built-in charge is more rational than many realize. Once you add regulations, benefits and protections required for the complicated North American financial system, the .000001 percent needed fees for them to operate in India will go to 3 percent. And do you really want your bank account information known to a low-cost outfit in India? God, I hate YouTube and the kids it attracts who think they were so wise to ditch formal education. As long as there is adequate competition, things cost what they cost for a reason. I suppose there is a real question of whether Visa, Mastercard and American Express is enough competition. But the ability of businesses to offer cash discounts is a huge fourth layer of competition.
