3 Reasons Why Modern Day Consumers Hate Cash

Do Canadian shoppers really hate cash? Well, perhaps “hate” is a strong word. But there definitely seems to be a very strong preference for plastic these days. The truth is that seeing a “cash only” sign in a store turns many Canadian consumers away. These days, they are used to pulling out their credit cards and debit cards to make payments for purchases. Are you providing this convenience or are you making life inconvenient for shoppers?

Here are three reasons why modern day consumers hate cash:

1. Cash is too easy to spend. Many of our colleagues have informed us that any time they have cash on their persons, they become compelled to spend it. Some people just hate the idea of having change jingle around in their pockets. So, they end up spending it on things they don’t particularly want or need. With credit cards and debit cards, customers tend to spend their money a lot more wisely.

“When I have a few $20 bills in my pocket, all of a sudden my pockets start to burn,” writes the MoneyRamblings.com blogger, “Oh hey, I have money! I can spend it with impunity! It’s literally like having free money…Debit and credit charges on the other hand always hurt. They’ll show up in my bank transactions, they’ll be automatically reflected in my budget, and they’ll be the silent witnesses of my (sometimes sad) spending behaviour.”

2. Cash is too easy to lose. If a consumer loses his/her credit or debit card, it can easily be replaced. As well, in worst case scenarios when someone has fraudulently used the lost or stolen cards, the transactions amounts can be reimbursed by the card issuer. Lost or stolen cash offers no such solution. Once your cash is gone, it’s gone forever. Quite simply, using plastic over paper has helped Canadian consumers hold on to more of their money.

“What, like you’ve never lost money?” challenges MoneyRamblings.com, “Come on, it happens to everybody. You put it on the counter, and your cat pushes it off the table. The wind picks it up and blows it out of the window. You try to reach your house keys and it simply falls out of your pocket. Your couch swallows enormous amount of change only to be found when you replace your couch…Try losing your plastic debit card. You just go and get a new one. No big deal.”

3. Cash is too inconvenient to use. If a charge comes up to $56.38 and you only have fifty bucks on you, what do you do? If you have sixty bucks on you, now you’re forced to accept $3.62 back in change. Check that – you’ll receive $3.60 back in change because the Canadian Mint doesn’t even print pennies anymore. Get the picture? The federal government has realized that cash is becoming a thing of the past.

As with the above scenario, people are actually losing money by using their cash. Consider the fact that if you run a cash-only business, you are inconveniencing your customers tremendously. It is so much easier for customers to pull out their credit cards or debit cards to swipe for transactions of any amount. There is no fumbling for correct change and there is no worry for having enough cash

At Canadian POS Corporation, we offer our customers a solution to prevent them from inconveniencing their customers. For more information about our Countertop and Wireless POS terminals that allow you to accept all credit cards and debit cards, give us a call at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost.