# And now... Canada looks at digital cash. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 12, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-canada-looks-at-digital-cash/618564 "2012-04-12T14:54:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-now-canada-looks-at-digital-cash/618564/1 "2012-04-12T14:54:21Z")
First there were loonies and toonies. Then redesigned banknotes with hologram stripes. Then [holographic coins](http://www.apmex.com/Product/58694/Canada_2001_150_Gold_Hologram_Year_of_the_Snake.aspx). Then the [million-dollar coin](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=409463). Then [polymer banknotes](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=554657). Then the [elimination of the penny](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=646712). Then [the glow-in-the-dark quarter](http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57412545-1/canadas-newest-coin-glows-in-the-dark/). And now… [Digital cash](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/royal-canadian-mint-mulls-digital-penny/article2399500/). 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.