Cashless society becoming reality

Two thirds of men (66%) are more inclined to carry large amounts of cash, as opposed to the vast majority of women (76%) who consistently carry $50 or less, according to a recent joint poll conducted by RBC and Shoppers Drug Mart.

Men who always keep cash in their wallets tend to use a bank machine up to twice a week (41%), compared to only one third of women. The poll also found that 28% of women rarely or never withdraw cash, compared to 22% of men.

“Canadians prefer to have some cash on hand, but our survey suggests that women in particular are finding debit to be a more convenient way to pay for their day-to-day purchases,” said Wayne Bossert, executive vice-president of Canadian banking at RBC.

The survey revealed that on average, over half of women (51%), as opposed to only 40% of men, use debit to purchase everyday items such as groceries, coffee and household items.

“We are increasingly becoming a cashless society and Canadians are adopting options such as debit, [especially] now that they can earn rewards points on debit purchases that translate into savings,” Bossert adds.

As it turns out, RBC and Shoppers are not the only organizations that have noted this trend—The Royal Canadian Mint has been actively monitoring the increasing growth of electronic payments.

In addition, they have noted the growing popularity of micro and nano-transactions and the explosion of mobile commerce, which suggests there are new opportunities for innovative currency options.

In response to these trends and to consumers’ preference for going cashless, the Mint has now developed a new beta product called MintChip. Designed as the evolution of currency, MintChip could become a digital replacement for the pocketful of the coins no one ever uses, and may eliminate the need for carrying cash altogether.

The Royal Canadian Mint will shortly execute a competition among North American software developers to vet the technology and challenge developers to identify innovative ways to use and integrate the MintChip proposition.

The mint’s CEO, Marc Brulé, will be unveiling the new technology and giving a keynote address on April 17th at The Canadian Institute’s Forum on Canadian Payment Innovations, a strategic business conference involving key stakeholders in Canada’s payments ecosystem.