Could a digital currency fill gaps in a cashless society?

What would a cashless society look like in Canada, and who would fall through the cracks? A new paper from researchers with the Bank of Canada seeks to answer that question and assess whether a digital central bank currency could fill payment gaps for Canadians.

Its authors concluded that a digital currency could be designed to overcome potential pitfalls of a cashless society, such as service outages or barriers for people who rely on cash for payments.

But a digital currency’s ultimate success would depend on widespread adoption by both merchants and consumers, and that feat may be difficult to pull off, the researchers concluded.

“Achieving wide adoption, acceptance and use of (central bank digital currency) could be challenging,” the paper said. “Overcoming such barriers could require significant and sustained investment by the central bank.”