Always Carry Cash

 

Old blog 23 July 2022 about when a system crashes and we can't pay with bank cards.

Canada was on pause 8 July ‘22 because the Rogers network was hacked, causing an outage. If British Airways account can, Rogers can also be hacked. Data thieves don’t take a vacation.

There was  no email and we could not use debit cards to buy anything. We had no cash because it went out of fashion with using belts. Rogers outage nudged in regret. Debit and credit cards made us forget that money in paper form - green, blue or brown dollar bills - is a means of payment.

Rogers website claims it has 10 million subscribers. Does it mean that only people with e-mail like madashell@rogers.ca were affected? No, because the website says it is ‘largest wireless service provider in Canada.’

I’m not a Rogers customer but my Ontario friends are, because Rogers is as Canadian as hockey. It is as old as some of the maple trees Canada is famous for. That was immaterial on 8 July ‘22 because it’s not only subscribers that could not move an inch, but many banks and business in general too.

Wikipedia is preparing a page on 8 July, the great Canadian outage. It was very sunny and we were up and about. We tend to gravitate towards The Forks when the weather is willing. That is how I learned about the outage.

When I presented my $20 to the cashier, he explained that some food vendors use Rogers for both debit and credit cards. Others used it for just debit cards, so customers paid with credit cards.

I paid in cash because I had $25 I intended to use for a hair cut. We live in a digital world. Do we? Not with hackers getting slicker by the minute.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.