Coffee Shop Rejects Cash, Central Bank Responds: It's Reasonable

Modern life runs on mobile payments. Cashless, contactless transactions have become so ordinary that many of us would struggle to remember what a paper bill actually looks like.

Old Canadian Banknote Refused at Café

Recently, according to media reports including the Global Times, a woman named Irene Nizzero from Ontario, Canada, had an old 5 Canadian dollar banknote refused at a café. The note she tried to pay with was an older paper version issued in 1986 — Canada's current 5-dollar notes have long since switched to polymer plastic.

The young cashier didn't recognize the bill and called over other staff to check it. Nizzero assured them it was genuine, but the cashier, playing it safe, declined it anyway. The next day, hoping to prove her point, Nizzero returned to the coffee shop and showed the note to the manager.

She added that she'd had the same 1986 bill turned down for a drink before, so she understood where the shop was coming from: it's understandable when young staff don't recognize decades-old currency, and refusing it is simply caution. After all, everyone pays with new polymer notes or by phone these days.

Bank of Canada Responds

On October 17, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported that Amélie Ferron-Craig, a spokesperson for the Bank of Canada, had stated in an email: "It is up to sellers to decide what forms of payment they want to accept, and businesses can refuse to accept paper money, or even certain denominations of paper money, as payment for goods or services."

In other words, businesses can choose their own payment methods — including rejecting specific denominations. For counterfeit prevention and loss control, many small shops in Canada and elsewhere routinely refuse large bills. The Bank of Canada also noted that old banknotes remain redeemable: anyone holding them can exchange them for new ones at any bank.

Ferron-Craig added that the 1986 notes carried anti-counterfeiting measures such as raised ink and green planchettes, and reiterated that all old banknotes retain their value.

As for Nizzero: "I don't blame the young cashier for being cautious. It made me reconsider my own position — enough generations have passed now, and it reflects just how common plastic and digital payments have become."

The Cashless Trend

Cafés refusing cash isn't an isolated quirk. Earlier, British netizens shared a notice from a local Starbucks announcing that from October 1, 2022, Starbucks UK would accept only card payments, contactless, or Starbucks Rewards — no cash at all. The news drew plenty of pushback, but it signals a broader shift: cashless stores appear to be becoming the norm across Starbucks UK.

The push started during COVID-19. In 2020, as the pandemic swept the globe, then-CEO Kevin Johnson said Starbucks was accelerating its cashless plans to protect customers and staff, predicting that mobile payment would become the dominant method.

To be fair, the transition is genuinely convenient. Gone are the days of carrying cash, cards, and loose change, or queueing because you were short on coins. Today a phone covers everything — and sometimes you don't even need that, with face-recognition payments tied directly to your account.

Considerations for a Cashless Society

Still, a fully cashless society leaves some groups behind: the elderly, people with disabilities, and consumers in rural or mountainous areas where internet coverage is patchy. What do you think? How long has it been since you last used paper money?

Image source: Internet

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Whatever you pay with, the coffee in your cup matters more. For an accessible start to specialty coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's entry-level beans are hard to beat: the Brazil Cerrado Red Bourbon is a smooth, low-acid everyday cup with cream, peanut, and cocoa notes — the kind of coffee that suits any brewing method and any budget.

If your tastes run brighter, the washed FrontStreet Yirgacheffe Gedeb Worka Cooperative brings jasmine florals, lemon acidity, and berry sweetness, while the natural FrontStreet Guji Hambela (Hua Kui) layers strawberry, passion fruit, jackfruit, and honey into an aromatic, juice-like cup. Great coffee, no cash required.