Cash is king

We are reading more about the impact of moving to a fully cashless society and its impacts on the more vulnerable population. After learning more about people who often use cash to flee domestic violence, low-income people who’s very survival depends on cash and new arrivals who need cash before being able to set up bank accounts etc, we decided we are not going to become a cashless salon. We won’t be fully cash either as neither our booking and deposit system is able to work with cash sadly, but we will provide clients with a benefit for paying cash in salon. In addition to the more important value reasons above, here is another little example that was compelling to us:

Why should we pay cash everywhere we can with banknotes instead of a card/phone?

I have $50 note in my pocket and spend it at the cafe. The cafe owner uses the bill to pay for the coffee. The Coffee supplier owner uses it to pay for the electrician. The electrician uses the same note to pay for the barber who then uses it to pay for the shopping. After all these transactions, the $50 note will still retain a $50 value and has fulfilled its purpose to everyone who used it for payment.

BUT

If I went to the cafe and paid digitally via card the bank fees and transaction fees are around $1.50 (and so will the fee for each further payment transaction.) Therefore, after 30 transactions, the initial $50 will have been reduced in value to effectively $5, and $45 will have become the property of the bank, thanks to all the digital transactions and fees.

But what about choice and convenience?

Its true, a cashless society may become inevitable and its certainly more convenient for clients and for the us as a business not having to count and bank cash and set up floats, so if people prefer it and are happy to pay the additional fees, that’s their right. But until we as a society can also find solutions for those hurt by a cashless economy, we will be trying to provide a bit of resistance in our part of the world and introducing our new preferred payment method as cash.