In Montreal, journalist Louis-Philippe Messier travels mostly on the run, his desk in his backpack, on the lookout for fascinating subjects and people. He speaks to everyone and is interested in all walks of life in this urban chronicle.
More and more merchants prefer to free themselves from the eternal burden of the cash register, which must be counted, replenished with change and protected from thieves, by adopting a policy of payment by bank card only.
“We do not accept cash in bars or our restaurants,” warns Time Out Market, the Eaton Center food court where I recently ate while reporting at an arcade that , at his counter, no longer accepts cash.
“We direct customers to a machine that accepts bank notes to buy tokens for our machines, but we no longer accept change and we no longer have a cash register,” explains Emmanuel Sévigny, the owner of the Playbox Center .
After my report, I went to buy shoes for my young son at Décathlon, the French sports store chain which has never accepted cash since its opening.
Montreal’s other high-end food fair, Le Central, at the corner of Saint-Laurent and Sainte-Catherine, uses the more polite expression “contactless payment” to say the same thing, i.e. -say: no cash.
When Station 10 hair salons located in Montreal metro stations appeared four and a half years ago, they were card payment only.
Among the brands and places that have gotten rid of cash are the Bell Center, the Videotron Center, the Bromont Ski resort, David’s Tea, Jack & Jones, La Ronde and so on.
There are so many “post-cash” businesses that just listing them would probably fill the entire space of this column, a column that I am currently writing while sitting at my favorite café near my home which, of course… .does not accept cash.
“Cash represented 5% of payments received and required 20 hours of counting and management work, not to mention the need to fetch change. It was no longer worth it,” explains Adrien Allard, the owner of the Aube bakery-café.
The new Aube bakery found it simpler not to have a cash register.
Photo Louis-Philippe Messier
Anti-holdup measure
Another disadvantage of cash is that it is easily stolen.
Often, closing a small business is done with just one employee. There is then a security risk.
The Metro Morgan supermarket, not far from the Aube bakery, locks its door which opens onto Rue Sainte-Catherine after 6 p.m. to complicate the lives of potential robbers who are after the money from the tills.
So here we are in a strange mixed era where some small businesses only accept cash – my barber, for example – and others, only card payment.
For my part, since I received a “smart watch” for my birthday, since my cards are saved on it, I find myself going out without a wallet.
Except for my driving license and my Opus card, I carry it around on my right thigh for nothing. With a small roll of notes for possible “cash only” businesses, I would be in business anywhere. But if I one day break down socially and find myself on the street, I will find it less funny.
Near the Fugazzi Pizza on Ontario Street, which does not accept cash, I come across Jonathan Charbonneau who begs in front of the Caisse pop Hochelaga.
“It’s terrible to leave out all the people who just have cash to pay like me who doesn’t have a card or a bank account,” he laments.
As a beggar, Jonathan Charbonneau suffers doubly from the normalization of card payment.
Photo Louis-Philippe Messier
The sudden change in payment culture affects Mr. Charbonneau doubly.
“Not only are there businesses that just want the card, but the people who pass by all say to me: sorry, I just have cards,” he explains.