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CASHLESS STORES: THIS “SOLUTION” IS A PROBLEM    Cashlessness sounds cool and it’s a growing trend in Toronto and other urban centres. Less paper, less clutter, more convenience is the message. So cool and convenient.. but for whom? Look beyond the cool factor and cashless commerce adds to the gentrification that is making twenty-first century cities increasingly hostile to poor people, especially the homeless, for whom downtowns have been historically a kind of refuge, at least compared to the suburbs. Usually without credit cards or the bank accounts needed for them, cash is the only kind of money the poor have available to them.

Here’s TorontotheBetter’s suggestion to those cashlessly attracted. If you’re a store make sure you still allow people to pay with cash, even if you may want to encourage cashlessness for environmental reasons. And if you’re a customer of stores promoting cashlessness tell them to think about people for whom cash is their only option and please give what you can to the many on our streets who need cash to survive. As for governments committed to social justice and equality it’s time to ban cashless only enterprise.