In Canada we got a solid reminder of the importance of cash when the Rogers outage took Interac and many credit card processing systems offline...
this post was submitted on 30 Jun 2024
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That says more about the disgusting state of Canadian infrastructure than in does about electronic payment. A lot of places could't operate their POS at all without an internet connection.
The Robelus cartel is one of the things to be shameful of as a Canadian (though the US isn't much better).
That outage had nothing to do with Canadian infrastructure. It was caused by a maintenance upgrade that Rogers was doing.
Unless you're saying everyone should have backup internet connections. I'd be surprised to learn if any country has that. Given the size of Canada, that's a lot of work to get that in place.
As someone who has been a network engineer, you're completely ignorant if you think there's anywhere on Earth that is not just a handful of stupid decisions away from a similar outage
Thats one of many times each year the card processing system (in full or in part) has gone down.
Though usually it doesn't stay down as long as that one.
Just make it illegal to not accept cash at brick and mortars, like many cities have done. Problem solved.
The powers that be will likely push for cashless society because it gives them more surveillance & control
If credit/debit cards were the norm and cash was invented today, it would likely be outlawed down because criminals/terrorists/child kidnappers will use if for nefarious purposes
No, it's just more convenient to use credit or debit.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A consumer group is urgently calling on the federal government to follow other jurisdictions in the U.S and Europe and bring in legislation to stem the slide toward a cashless society.
A recent online poll of some 1,500 people commissioned by a different group, Payments Canada, found that a majority of respondents were worried about the prospect of cashless stores and want to maintain the option to use cash — which is free from bank fees, isn't susceptible to privacy breaches and can be used during internet outages.
"For many — such as Indigenous peoples, unhoused individuals, older Canadians, victims of domestic abuse and others who are vulnerable — cash is a beacon of economic security, a source of financial autonomy, an emergency lifeline and an emblem of cultural traditions," Ahmed wrote.
In 2019, Philadelphia became the first city in North America to prohibit "a person selling or offering for sale consumer goods or services at retail from refusing to accept cash as a form of payment."
In New York, the regulation proposes fines of up to $1,500, with the councillor who sponsored the rules declaring that a ban on cashless businesses protects privacy, equity and consumer choice.
In Ireland, the law would require a cash option at businesses like pharmacies and grocery stores that sell essential products and services.
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