European Commission launches legislative proposal for mandatory cash acceptance

[eurocoin]

The European Commission has launched a legislative proposal to make the acceptance of cash mandatory by all businesses. The proposal contains only extremely specific exceptions. According to the Commission, euro member states should also have a regulator which monitors the acceptance of cash, and which takes measures against bussinesses that fail to comply. If this would be approved in its current form, it means the abolishment of almost all pin-only stores. More information about the proposal can be found here.

[chrisild]

Yes, also see this post from late June – however, I do not think this would make "cashless" stores impossible. After all, the concept of legal tender refers to paying a debt. That is, if you have an obligation to make a payment, cash should be a legitimate means of doing that. Now if a store tells you right away, we only accept this and that kind of payment here, the story may well be different.

So we would also need a specific regulation which says that cash payments should always be possible. And sorry, I do not think it will come to that. There already are numerous legal exceptions, and some stores will have excellent reasons (too costly, unsafe, etc.) for not wanting to deal with cash. So such regulations, if they come at all, would probably be limited to certain places only.

[eurocoin]

The interpretation of the Dutch government of the legislative proposal of the European Commision is that almost all 'cards only' stores would disappear if it were approved in its current form.

[redlock]

The interpretation of the Dutch government of the legislative proposal of the European Commision is that almost all 'cards only' stores would disappear if it were approved in its current form.

Very good!

[andyg]

There already are numerous legal exceptions, and some stores will have excellent reasons (too costly, unsafe, etc.) for not wanting to deal with cash. So such regulations, if they come at all, would probably be limited to certain places only.

The most infuriating around here are car parks where you can only pay by downloading an app and creating an account - far too much fuss for a £2 fee, especially as each car park seems to have it's own app - they tend to be local council owned sites.

[chrisild]

Pretty bad, yes. While I fully understand that cities are not really interested in parking ticket machines that need to be emptied and restocked all the time, such "insular" solutions cannot be the answer. Over here, at least when it comes to parking in the street, cities will usually have agreements with cashless ticket companies ... sometimes with one company only. Then you need to have that company's app, may have to register, may even pay more than if you paid cash (for the extra convenience), and in the next city it may all be different. Sigh. Fortunately most places that I know around here also accept cash. Less convenient maybe but much more universal.

Now in some cases there is no way around paying cashless. Try grabbing a bike, scooter or car from a service that does not use fixed stations (only). But in many other cases, notably stores, it would be easy to offer the customer a choice.

[krishna]

Cash is the only accessible form of government backed, legitimate mode of transaction accessible to all sections of society
Be it the illiterate, vision impaired, mentally and physically challenged, old and the very young, cash gives an irrefutable mode of access to facilities which should be available to all
Not accepting cash is some form of digital apartheid; it is a clear violation of the right to live a dignified life

[chrisild]

Cash is the only accessible form of government backed, legitimate mode of transaction accessible to all sections of society

... except it makes theft much more attractive. I am all for giving the customer a choice ("plastic" including payment apps/gadgets, or coins and notes), and do not like stores that want to force me into "cash only" or "card only". Problem is that cash handling is not "free" for a merchant, and neither is plastic. The other day I wanted to buy some goodies from a local patisserie, and the place where I usually go accepts both cash and cards. Fine. This time however I went to their small "branch store" in a big mall – cards only, for safety reasons.

We should also keep in mind that, at least around here, nobody is paid for his or her work with "cash" or a "paycheck". No, the money is of course transferred to our bank accounts. Cash only gets involved when I make the deliberate decision to withdraw some money from said account, be it at a branch office of my bank (rare these days), at an ATM (preferably one that I can use free of charge) or a grocery store. In fact, the latter is most common for me these days – I tell the cashier "oh, and €50 cash please" and pay the total with my card.

So yes, I support any initiative that makes cash payments mandatory wherever they are technically possible. At the same time, I also appreciate the EU plans for digital central bank money. Would be nice, for a change, to use "plastic" that is not controlled by US card companies. Sure, in theory European commercial banks could try and set a payment system up, but they have been unable or unwilling to do that for many years ...

[redlock]

This time however I went to their small "branch store" in a big mall – cards only, for safety reasons.

BS argument.

[chrisild]

BS argument.

Don't think so. As I wrote, same patisserie, two different locations in Düsseldorf (nine in Germany altogether). Of the two here, one accepts both cards and cash, the other one is a plastic-only place.

[redlock]

Don't think so. As I wrote, same patisserie, two different locations in Düsseldorf (nine in Germany altogether). Of the two here, one accepts both cards and cash, the other one is a plastic-only place.

I meant that the ''safety'' argument is BS. Have some places in Düsseldorf suddenly turned into the 1970s South Bronx? Don't think so. 

[andyg]

Have you never been to one of chrisild's parties?

[chrisild]

Yeah, right.    Maybe being an ex-royal would also help – currently Harry and Meghan are in town (Düsseldorf is the host city of this year's Invictus Games) and went to a brewery. Not sure how they paid ... if they had to pay at all.