In recent years, the way we pay for things has seen a deluge of change — just not the spare kind.
Take the Royal Canadian Legion’s poppy campaign, ahead of Remembrance Day on Nov. 12. For years, when you saw uniformed veterans or cadets standing outside a grocery store or subway station, you’d reach into your pocket or wallet, pull out a few coins or bills, and drop them into the white box in exchange for a red poppy to pin to your lapel. (To be repeated a few days later when you inevitably lose the first one.)
Now, however, you might have a different experience: Frustration that as much as you’d like to contribute to this worthy cause, you haven’t carried physical money since … actually, it’s hard to remember when. You avoid eye contact with the seller, make a mental note to get some cash, and shuffle off to pick up that coffee you paid for via an app.
Or maybe not. Over the past few years, the Legion has been rolling out “Pay Tribute” boxes, which allow you to tap your phone or card to make a donation in multiples of $5, though they’re not everywhere just yet. This is also the second year poppies have been available to order from the Legion’s Amazon storefront.
It’s a sign of how far we’ve moved toward becoming a cashless society. But this fundamental shift in how we pay for things affects aspects of city life well beyond the convenience of being able to tap onto public transit.
A cashless society
“Cash just isn’t the go-to anymore. Even vendors at farmers’ markets are now equipped with machines offering tap,” said Laura Harvey, founder of business registration firm Ontario Business Central. She said more entrepreneurs and small businesses are starting out with only digital payment options — not just for convenience, but to meet customer expectations. This shift is occurring even in previously cash-dominant industries, among tutors, personal trainers and bakeries, “because their clients assume they won’t need to carry cash.”
Just ask the vendors at a late fall staple, the One Of A Kind Show. “Especially since COVID, the world has adapted into a cashless environment. More than ever, our artisans accept card payment, whereas before there were artisans that would only accept cash,” said show director Janice Leung. “I would say the majority of them do accept card, cash, Interac or tap.”
Leung sees this as a testament to their resilience. “One of the strengths of small businesses has been that they’re very adaptable. They always need to move where the customers are, and we’ve definitely noticed that the payment method has shifted to align with customer trends.”
That transition hasn’t been without a (literal) cost: Sellers pay a fee for credit card transactions, which eats into the profit they would take when you buy your holiday ornament or handcrafted necklace with cash. “For small businesses, credit card fees are a huge part of their expenses, whereas before it maybe wasn’t,” said Leung, who suggests using cash or even debit as a way to help them keep more of that money to reinvest in their business.
Strip clubs go cashless
Another workplace where cash has traditionally been king is the strip club, but now some dancers have false nails or nipple pasties with embedded payment chips, “a sexy way to make clients tap,” said Diney, a performer, director and CEO of Stripper News who goes by one name.
She said she knows many strippers who take forms of payment like the money-transfer app Zelle, Apple Pay or e-transfers. “I think this can be empowering because it’s going directly to you,” said Diney, noting that some clubs use tokens. “Also, strip club ATMs normally charge a very high transaction fee, which customers love to complain about.”
Money being “thrown” is a big thing, especially in U.S. clubs, but there are creative ways to achieve that experience. At Diney’s parties, clients can use e-transfers or Square to pay for “funny money” that can be thrown at performers without them having to worry about picking it up.
Diney hopes that alternate payment methods will mean strippers and sex workers earn more, not less, than when clients were limited to what was in their pocket. Still, she’s wistful about the decline of cash in everyday life. “it actually makes me kind of sad,” she said. “Many coffee shops are cashless now and I wish I could just hand them a 5 dollar bill. It also makes me worried for smaller businesses like convenience stores that truly prefer cash and want to avoid transaction fees.”
The cost of leaving cash behind
In fact, fifty-seven per cent of Canadians have no desire to live in a fully cashless world, according to Payments Canada, the organization responsible for Canada’s payment infrastructure. “Many still rely heavily on cash, particularly those who are older, less educated, unbanked and living in rural areas,” said senior analyst Stephen Yun. “Cash is still a preferred payment method during a crisis because it is widely accepted and unaffected by technological issues, like a power or internet outage.”
While there are pros to a cashless society, like faster transactions — remember waiting for your cashier to make change? — and not having to line up at an ATM, it can exclude people without access to technology and reliable internet.
“We’re observing two very different realities. Many small service providers — like barbers, food trucks and home-based caterers — have successfully moved to Square, Interac tap, or mobile point-of-sale systems. For them, digital payments mean better tracking, less cash handling, and lower theft risk. But cash-reliant sectors are feeling the pinch,” said Akash Thakur, a Torontonian who works in cloud infrastructure. “Small ethnic grocery stores in Scarborough and North York, mom-and-pop diners, and flea market vendors at spots like Downsview Park often still operate entirely on cash because digital terminals add fees and require reliable connectivity. When customers show up with only cards or phones, they lose the sale on the spot.”
Like many, Thakur can’t remember the last time he visited an ATM. “That said, I do keep a little cash on hand for two specific reasons: when certain local stores offer small cash discounts, and when I want to help someone in need,” he said. “Those are the few remaining situations where cash still feels immediate and human — something that technology can’t fully replace.”
