Vancouver ramen noodle restaurant goes completely cash free

Experts say it could be a sign of a future cashless society.

At Marutama Ramen on Robson Street in Vancouver, customers can no longer pay for their food with cash, only credit or debit.

Management made the decision to eliminate cash as a payment option to cut down on settling accounts at the end of the night and making a trip to the bank to deposit the cash.

“Ninety-five per cent of the customers use plastic,” Marutama employee Tatshishi Koizumi told Global News. “I don’t think many customers complained.”

Major airlines have been cashless since 2010, and the federal government will not accept cash to pay for Canadian passports.

But this is a first for restaurants.

“It’s the first time we’re seeing it at street level,” says Andrew Sharpe with Brandspark Retail Marketing. “So that’s what it’s probably hitting us a little bit more in our face but I don’t think it’s something we’ll see the end of.”