The Bank of Canada is raising concerns about the country’s move towards a cashless society.
Timothy Lane, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada, outlined a few reasons to reconsider using cash during a talk at the University of Calgary.
"Cash works even when the systems are down, when the power goes out and people can still make payments using bank notes," said Deputy Governor Lane. "Second, bank notes offer privacy for your transactions. You can use them without giving anyone your personal or banking information. Using cash avoids the risk of being hacked or having your card compromised."
This fall, the Bank of Canada released a paper called "Is a Cashless Society Problematic?" that cites the consistent decline of cash payments in Canada over the past few decades. The paper delves into an analysis by Forex Bonuses, which declared Canada the top country in the world embracing cashless technology. In second place was Sweden, where the government is also studying how going cashless could impact the country and its people.
The Bank of Canada is currently studying the feasibility of developing a digital currency for Canada that would be issued by the central bank. However, Bank of Canada officials have said that the idea of a digital currency is still likely years away even as Canadians embrace cashless forms of payment - whether it be with credit cards or debit bank cards.
