Shops moving towards electronic payments and not taking cash

[Ciel]

By chance, I noticed that the new Longos Pronto Eats at Yonge & Bloor in Toronto ON has listed a job opening for the store. It will be cashless. Guess that will save the store bank fees (some banks charge businesses for making cash deposits) and time spent by staff going for change and bills or arranging cash deliveries--not sure how that fact will be signed at the entrances, so visitors are aware of the need for a debit or credit card.

Longo’s Pronto Eats is a new, smaller scale store which will be located in the path at Yonge and Bloor in Toronto and open from Monday to Sunday. Some of the features of this store include full and semi-prepared meal solutions, a Longo’s café service, be the first cashless location, offer a variety of Longo’s private label products and much more!

I'd be tempted to see if I could pay for food using Thank You Rewards points in multiples of $10, if I had say $40 worth of TYR points to redeem at that store.

The downside of electronic only payments-when the card terminals don't work (power loss or computer network issues) or say some software update messes up purchases. Then business will be down unless the TYR redemption option is still viable.

[Shwa Girl]

This is interesting. They tried this in the US. There was an order in California that if you have a brick and morter store, you must accept cash, because

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), 8.5 million Americans are "unbanked" — the term used for people who don't have bank accounts — many of them minorities and seniors.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/backla...ills-1.5139213

Plus,
studies have shown that people tend to spend more when they use a card, than when they use cash. That's better for the store

Why do people spend more with plastic? First, it is simply easier to do. Let's say you have $100 budgeted for a romantic dinner with your significant other. If you only have the $100 in cash, you will pay careful attention to what you are ordering to make sure you have enough to pay for your meal and tip. However, if you have a credit card, there is really no immediate penalty for over-spending, so it's easier to go over your budget.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/billhar.../#6ddb262d1c19

[Ciel]

Thanks for those links, @Shwa Girl ! I'd like to be unbanked but will admit having direct deposit for tax credit deposits means no waiting for the mail 5 days later!

[Shwa Girl]

@Ciel , Planet Fitness is going cashless for their gym purchases such as juices and water. Good for me since if I forget my water bottle to refill at the free filtered water station, just use the drinking fountain. No card used at the gym.

[Ciel]

I have to ask if there's a fee to buy the card, before any value is added. Good that you have a plan--maybe notice when there's no queue at the fountain and pounce for water!