'Choice is taken away': locals react to Budweiser Gardens moving to cashless payment only

The House of Green no longer wants your green - as in legal tender cash-money.

London’s Budweiser Gardens has announced it’s moving to a cashless payment system.

That has one accessibility advocate seeing red.

“I was angry,” said Lisa Haven when she learned of the venue’s new payment policy. “We’re going a step backwards in terms of barriers for people with disabilities,” she said.

Haven is a social worker at Hutton House in London, which supports adult clients with various disabilities, including intellectual disabilities.

She says some people either don’t have a bank account or are unable to manage their bank accounts on their own. She worries they will be shut out.

“They may not be able to go to an event or have that independence to go. They might be able to go if someone goes with them, but again, that choice is taken away from them,” said Haven.

Budweiser Gardens, which is operated by venue manager Oak View Group, announced last week it’s making the move to digital transactions only, including credit and debit, along with mobile payments, saying the move is to speed up the payment process and reduce wait times.

“We’re moving away from the traditional counter-style concession stand to more of a grab-and-go market style concession stand that you’re seeing now at Scotiabank Arena and Rogers Centre in Toronto,” explained Budweiser Gardens general manager Kelly Austin. “And with that, it’s a lot of self checkout, so having a cashier at every checkout stand just isn’t an option with this,” she said.

She added that the venue will have four locations where customers can turn their cash into a card that can be used at points of sale locations.

Budweiser Gardens exterior, September 23, 2024 (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

London based tech expert Carmi Levy says digital payments is where business is headed, whether we like it or not.

“Cash is becoming increasingly inconvenient and expensive for businesses to manage, and there are a lot of retailers, both in London and beyond, that have already made the decision to move away from cash and Budweiser Gardens is only the latest of many," he said. Levy cautioned that the trend will likely continue to a point where it will be difficult to find a business that actually takes cash.

He also cautioned the move is not without risk to consumers.

“I can pay for something in cash and no-one has to know anything about me, I’m not sharing my personal data. I don’t have to worry that it’s going to be included in some kind of security breach or cyber attack,” he said.

While the city owns Budweiser Gardens it has no say in the decision to dump cash, as the venue is operated by a private corporation, explained deputy mayor Shawn Lewis in a phone conversation with CTV News.

The new cashless policy kicks in this Friday, Sept. 27, just in time for the London Knights season home-opener.

“Money is legal tender, and we should be able to pay for things the way we want to,” said Haven.