With the advent of technology the need for actual cash monies is fast disappearing and the emergence of digital commerce seems to be the way of the future. It may one day be impossible to borrow change from someone just to make a phone call as technology-loving Canadians seem to be paving the way for a brave new shopping environment that may soon see us using only computers, mobile devices, watches, eyeglasses and even kitchen appliances to make purchases more often than cold, hard cash.
It looks like we are on an exponential technology curve from one year to the next where massive transformations are taking place when it comes to Canadians need to use computers, mobile and wireless devices to pay for their items. It looks like Canadians are among the heaviest Internet users in the world, and most of us (88 per cent) have made an online purchase from either our computer or mobile device. A recent report by CIRA (the Canadian Internet Registration Authority) found that spending reached $22.3 billion in 2011, compared to $20.3 billion one year earlier. This CIRA report predicts e-commerce will account for 5.3 per cent of Canada’s total spending by 2016 – up from 3.4 per cent of the nation’s total spending in 2012. And so anyone looking more more information can visit their website at: https://cira.ca/factbook/current/ and click on the number 3 fact.
According to a new Canadian PayPal survey more than a third (35 per cent) of Canadians said they would be likely to use an Internet-enabled car to pay for gas at the pump. About 22 per cent indicated they would use an Internet-enabled fridge to shop and pay for food from an online grocery store. Using a watch or bracelet that the wearer pays for in-store purchases was popular with 23 per cent of Canadians. Internet-enabled glasses won interest from only 12 per cent. The same number (22 per cent) said they would be comfortable using facial recognition technology or a retinal scanner to pay for items in a store; while one in about five Canadians (18 per cent) is willing to use a chip implanted in a finger to tap in order to complete an in-store payment. Based on all my research and experience it looks like Canadians comfort with mobile and digital devices is driving us into a cashless society. Clearly, we’re not quite ready to be the Jetson family yet but, at the current rate of technology and e-commerce adoption in Canada, it may not take as long as we think to get there.
With that in mind, I think we’re at a point where you don’t need cash for most of what you need to do today. I do think people will continue to use cash because it’s been around so long. But this growth in contactless (payments using credit cards or mobile apps) I think is going to lead towards that end of cash. Statistics shows a 162 per cent increase in tap and contactless transactions for the third quarter of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. So, with the emergence of Apple Pay just recently and if Android pay makes it here to Canada you will really see cashless payment numbers increase even more.
