Canada: The First Cashless Society?

The Great White North is leading the way toward cashless payments. Canadians are the world's most enthusiastic users of debit cards and smart cards, and appear to be more interested than those in other countries in cellphone payments and fingerprint scans. Canadians are even applying cashless technology to such items as parking meters.

However, not all is perfect in this cashless scenario. Payment errors and customer service problems abound, and 12% of Canadians surveyed said they would quit using electronic payment if problems persisted.

Those involved in cashless payment systems in other countries will surely be watching Canada to learn which services consumers embrace, what problems emerge, and how they're resolved. Ultimately, they'll want to see if Canadians eschew cash altogether in favor of high-tech payments.

Source: Canada.com