First there were loonies and toonies. Then redesigned banknotes with hologram stripes. Then holographic coins. Then the million-dollar coin. Then polymer banknotes. Then the elimination of the penny. Then the glow-in-the-dark quarter. And now…
Digital cash. Yes, the Royal Canadian Mint is starting a research project to look at digital methods for small payments.
What would such a thing end up like? A stored-value card? You’d have to be able to transfer from person to person directly, so maybe they’d have Bluetooth and a little display and buttons… which would imply a battery and an antenna and a processor, and would be significantly more complex than current banking cards.
First, I think, Canada needs to make it easy for anyone to transfer money from one bank account to another, as I believe is done in Europe. Interac E-Transfer is a step there, but you still need online banking and an email account on both ends.