https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/covid-19-could-accelerate-shift-to-cashless-experts-say-1.1442318
COVID19 could accelerate shift to cashless, experts say
Some quotes from the article:
"The Bank of Canada last month urged retailers to continue allowing cash transactions"
"Some [reopening] businesses... have said they won't accept cash for the time being, potentially accelerating what the Bank of Canada describes as a decade-long shift away from the banknote... Cashiers at Longos, Best Buy and The Shoe Company, for instance, will refuse cash out of concern the bills are a vector for the novel coronavirus."
UofT professor Hejazi: "This is going to be a big shock to the system that will push us in the direction of a more modernized payment system... and if the developments we've seen during the pandemic continues to accelerate, we're going to get to that fully modernized payment system much more quickly."
"The migration away from cash has been ongoing for more than a decade, according to the Bank of Canada's most recent survey on methods of payment, conducted in 2017... That year, it said, 33 per cent of transactions were done in cash, down from 54 per cent in 2009... Smaller surveys conducted by Payments Canada, which handles the clearing and settlement of payments in this country, suggest the trend has only continued in the last few years and has accelerated in the past few months."
"For businesses, the benefits of going cashless are appealing even beyond the pandemic, he said. Businesses that don't accept cash don't have to carry a "float" -- money to give as change. Their transactions are already counted and their books are automatically reconciled, they need to make fewer trips to the bank and are less likely to be robbed."
Retail Council of Canada: "... discouraging the use of cash minimizes risk... If you give cash, you get cash in return... although the people in the store may be very well oriented towards appropriate sanitization and physical distancing and so on, you're actually getting somebody else's cash back."
Same stuff was also published in Globe and Mail:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/household-finances/article-cash-exodus-covid-19-pandemic-could-accelerate-shift-to-cashless/
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This got me to google around what else has been in the news about currency. It appears there is quite a hubbub going on about stores and governments refusing to take cash in most countries... and how that might have negative impact on poorer, rular, and older people who still rely on it. Some articles urged governments to speed up transition and move away from cash like in Sweden. I am quite interested in how this might impact NamSys sales in the long run... At around 20x PE we are payig for quite a lot of future growth. I wonder if the smart safes / cash recycler / ATM manufacturers could install some sterilisation UV light or something in the machines to help ease the public, stores, and government about using cash. The government should also speak up to encourage people to use cash rather than letting central banks say that no one can be forced to accept payment in physical cash. They print the money so they should protect it and mandate its use as a legal tender. Otherwise, we might have a much more rapid and permanent decline in use of cash across the world. Apparently some countries even took physical money out of circulation according to some articles and even re-opening, traditionally cash-based stores like convenience stores, farmer's markets, gas stations, and street food vendors and restaurants are refusing to accept cash now.
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Other recent articles:
https://globalnews.ca/news/6878824/legal-for-businesses-to-refuse-cash-canada/
Global News: Coronavirus: Is it legal for businesses to refuse cash as a result of COVID-19?
"In an effort to stem the tide of the novel coronavirus, a host of stores and some government services have chosen to not accept cash, instead only allowing transactions to be made through debit or credit."
Bank of Canada: "No law requires anyone to accept bank notes or any other form of payment to settle a commercial transaction... the fact that bills are often described as legal tender is irrelevant"
Dr. Bogoch from Toronto General Hospital Research Institute: "We know that SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) can stick to surfaces for a few hours to a few days, and this may include hard currency"
"Some Asian countries took currency out of circulation in an attempt to put an end to the virus."
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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52455706
BBC: Coronavirus 'will hasten the decline of cash'
"Coronavirus will hasten the decline in the use of cash as people make a long-term switch to digital payments, experts say. The lockdown has led to a 60% fall in the number of withdrawals from cash machines, although people are taking out bigger sums."
"Following a survey of consumers, Link suggested that 75% of people were using less cash, and 54% of those asked said they were avoiding cash."
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https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-covid-19-marks-the-real-beginning-of-the-end-of-cash-104855087.html
Yahoo Finance: Coronavirus marks the real beginning of the end of cash
"For years, annual reports have shown that UK cash and coins are laden with life-threatening bacteria."
"Even before the 23 March lockdown, the use of cash halved within days. The use of cash is also likely to significantly drop over the lockdown and social distancing period.
Currently, most essential stores only accept card payments. New guidance from the British Retail Consortium also says that stores should encourage card payments over physical money, even if lockdown restrictions are eased."
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https://www.macleans.ca/society/will-canada-go-cashless-post-pandemic/
Maclean's: Will Canada go cashless post-pandemic?
"Data from payment organizations confirms the pandemic has accelerated Canadians growing disinclination to use cash."
"The rush away from notes and coins has been so pronounced that even the Bank of Canada, which is responsible for the $92 billion in legal tender in circulation, weighed in this month, cautioning retailers not to stop accepting cash"
"The Bank of Canada reports that the value of all Canadian point-of-sale cash transactions plunged 54 per cent since 2009. A 2019 Bank of Canada methods-of-payment research study found that nine per cent of Canadians no longer use cash money. "
"The Canadian Payments Association, whose members are advocating for the modernization of our payments system, has also documented the “sharp decline” of cash in favour of ordinary or contactless bank cards, e-transfers, smartphone-based systems like Apple or Google Pay and pre-paid cards."
"As soon as the pandemic’s emergency measures came into effect, homeless people noticed that pedestrians were no longer carrying cash."
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https://www.paymentscardsandmobile.com/uk-cash-usage-halves-due-to-covid-19/
UK cash usage halves due to COVID-19
"Fresh reports from LINK, the operator of the UK’s biggest network of ATMs, say cash usage in Britain has halved in the past few days. The closure of shops, a shift to contactless payments, plus concerns that notes may harbour the virus has contributed to the dramatic decline."
"Some shops are refusing to accept cash during the crisis, demanding that customers pay by card only."
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/05/15/will-covid-19-end-use-paper-money/
Washington Post: Will covid-19 end the use of paper money?
" Recent studies show that over 90 percent of United States paper money contains bacterial colonization, mostly from Staph aureus, Salmonella and E. coli."
The paper summarizes how small pox, syphillis, and scarlet fever epidemics are linked to paper money and how the legislature and federal bank responded to the public outcry - by destroying and chemically washing money and preparing rules on how to handle old banknotes.
"During the debate over the Cares Act, a proposal from Sen. Sherrod Brown called for the creation of “digital dollars” for American citizens and residents."... which could create a dangerous precendent for eliminating physical currency.
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https://www.ft.com/content/430b8798-92e8-4b6a-946e-0cb49c24014a
Financial Times: Coronavirus accelerates shift away from cash
Don't have subscription so couldn't read it but must be same negative message as the other above articles.
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What are your thouhts? Does any of you work in the industry and have any insights on how the cash use has changes after the reopening?
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