Businesses that don't accept cards

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wantoosoon
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Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by wantoosoon »

It's not an issue when buying chewing gum or a beer from a kiosk, but I've had three restaurants refuse to accept cards in the last six months. Getting cash is a 45-minute round trip by car for me, plus of course it's illegal not to accept cards now. What are people's thoughts on this?
trevnhil
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by trevnhil »

I have certainly been to Restaurants and Bars where they prefer you to pay by cash. And I have done so rather than trying to test the legality of using a card..
In Recent Months it has become easier to get 'cash back' from supermarkets, so it is not always necessary to find an ATM
But there are some small payments where I would not really think of using my card.. One place that comes to mind is the barbers I use.

I hope we are not going to 'name and shame' businesses that don't accept cards
Trev..
WHL
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by WHL »

Not a problem for me, there are enough bank cash machines around , enabling people to get cash, and as Trev says shops are offering cash back also, add to that most people on here are retired , so they have all the time in the world to sort out getting money out. If it really is an issue for someone then boycott that restaurant, hundreds of other restaurants which take cards.
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Dominic
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by Dominic »

Lack of cash machines is a bit of a pain. However, we always pay in cash at restaurants, purely because we don't have to then wait for them to return with the machine and all that. With cash, we just put the notes in the wallet or jar they leave the bill in, and leave. It is a lot quicker.
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WHL
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by WHL »

Les Bean wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:12 am Businesses are legally required to accept card psyments. The ONLY reason restaurants would require cash is to avoid paying taxes, it's very bad practice to force customers to abet tax avoidance
I would agree that would be the reason for most not to accept cards, but I know of a couple of family run restaurants were mum and yaya are cooking in i the back and dad serving out front , the only way he knows is cash, they work very long hours and the guy drives a beat up double cabin, do you want to see these traditional restaurants go out of business I don't.

On a side note how many on here who are moaning about cards not being used, are happy to pay people to do their pool, decorated their homes, do some plumbing, electric's etc etc on a cash only no receipt needed basis ?
WHL
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by WHL »

Les Bean wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:52 am
WHL wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:35 am
Les Bean wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:12 am Businesses are legally required to accept card psyments. The ONLY reason restaurants would require cash is to avoid paying taxes, it's very bad practice to force customers to abet tax avoidance
I would agree that would be the reason for most not to accept cards, but I know of a couple of family run restaurants were mum and yaya are cooking in i the back and dad serving out front , the only way he knows is cash, they work very long hours and the guy drives a beat up double cabin, do you want to see these traditional restaurants go out of business I don't.

On a side note how many on here who are moaning about cards not being used, are happy to pay people to do their pool, decorated their homes, do some plumbing, electric's etc etc on a cash only no receipt needed basis ?
Aside from the Mom and Pop restaurants, which I appreciate are used to dealing in cash only, in my original post I meant to include that restaurants illegally refusing card payments is the equivalent of cash in hand pool cleaners etc.
There is near to me a family run DIY shop who still hand write bits of paper as receipts, when acceptance of card payments became mandatory they obeyed the law and installed a card machine, I suspect the traditional restaurants to which you refer are also conscientious, it's the more savvy ones who fiddle the books more
100% agree with your post.
glang3000
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by glang3000 »

I think the most likely reason for shops and restaurants not using card machines is cost, you have to pay a monthly charge for the machine, a further min charge for the months transactions , a charge per transaction and a percentage of the transaction.

I pay £15 for the machine per month, min charge of £28 per month for the service, £5 for compliance ( another EU law), about 3p per transaction then depending on the card use between 1% and 3% card charges. On an average month this costs me about £200 and some small business may not have £2400 a year spare.
If they wanted to avoid tax they would just declare all of the card payments and only some of the cash payments.
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ast
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by ast »

Absolutely correct costs are a factor, our business is now 60% card payments and the charges are high and surprisingly they get passed on indirectly to the customers. 8-)
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trevnhil
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by trevnhil »

glang3000 wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 1:03 pm I think the most likely reason for shops and restaurants not using card machines is cost, you have to pay a monthly charge for the machine, a further min charge for the months transactions , a charge per transaction and a percentage of the transaction.

I pay £15 for the machine per month, min charge of £28 per month for the service, £5 for compliance ( another EU law), about 3p per transaction then depending on the card use between 1% and 3% card charges. On an average month this costs me about £200 and some small business may not have £2400 a year spare.
If they wanted to avoid tax they would just declare all of the card payments and only some of the cash payments.
Gary.
Gary, thanks for posting all the charges that you and others have to bear. I knew there were charges but had no idea that they were as much as that.
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PolemIan
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by PolemIan »

My thoughts on the OP are that they are quite simply not complying with the law. In the early days when the rules came in a common response was that “we are still waiting for the machine”, 2 years or so down the line that should be much less of an issue. Even our the dog groomers we use have those little SumUp devices now.

From a banking perspective, certainly in the the U.K., cash handling is a massive part of the operations side of banking and very expensive, probably the same here. Look at how much you can be charged if you use one of those stand alone ATMs for a bit of a clue.

I don’t know how the cash handling costs are passed on here but I assume there are some. I expect cash deposits are charged at a %, possibly capped? For businesses away from towns, the reduced use of cash should help those who have to keep cash at home until it can be banked, or reduce trips to safe on fuel and deposit fees.

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WHL
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by WHL »

glang3000 wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 1:03 pm I think the most likely reason for shops and restaurants not using card machines is cost, you have to pay a monthly charge for the machine, a further min charge for the months transactions , a charge per transaction and a percentage of the transaction.

I pay £15 for the machine per month, min charge of £28 per month for the service, £5 for compliance ( another EU law), about 3p per transaction then depending on the card use between 1% and 3% card charges. On an average month this costs me about £200 and some small business may not have £2400 a year spare.
If they wanted to avoid tax they would just declare all of the card payments and only some of the cash payments.
Gary.
Are you using JCC or someone else, I was in retail and the charges were no where as high as your quoting?
wantoosoon
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by wantoosoon »

glang3000 wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 1:03 pm I think the most likely reason for shops and restaurants not using card machines is cost, you have to pay a monthly charge for the machine, a further min charge for the months transactions , a charge per transaction and a percentage of the transaction.

I pay £15 for the machine per month, min charge of £28 per month for the service, £5 for compliance ( another EU law), about 3p per transaction then depending on the card use between 1% and 3% card charges. On an average month this costs me about £200 and some small business may not have £2400 a year spare.
If they wanted to avoid tax they would just declare all of the card payments and only some of the cash payments.
Gary.
Thanks for the perspective. That does seem high though. My wife uses a card reader for her small business - I can't remember if it's Zettle or SumUp - and she only pays a percentage on each sale and no other costs. There are definitely some cheaper options out there, but perhaps they're only suited to lower volumes of transactions.

The point about the costs of cash is interesting. I know Hellenic is going to start charging €3 per cash deposit soon - not sure if it will apply to business accounts.

If businesses were to offer a discount for paying cash then I wouldn't mind, though that's probably illegal too!
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by Sadie »

WHL wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 8:43 am Not a problem for me, there are enough bank cash machines around , enabling people to get cash, and as Trev says shops are offering cash back also, add to that most people on here are retired , so they have all the time in the world to sort out getting money out. If it really is an issue for someone then boycott that restaurant, hundreds of other restaurants which take cards.
Finding a bank with accessibility and parking isn’t always easy for everyone, and not all cards enable you to get cash back. We have a BoC visa debit card and Paps only give cash back with a Mastercard
If you never ask the question, the answer will always be....no
trevnhil
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by trevnhil »

Sadie. Paps are now doing cashback on BOC Visa Cards :-)
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glang3000
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by glang3000 »

Sorry for any confusion, My business is in the UK that's why I was quoting sterling, I would expect as there is a monopoly in Cyprus then the charges would be higher as they only seem to have JCC.

If in the UK you do not want to pay for the machine and other monthly charges there are a couple of new card companies like IZETLE where you can buy a small card machine however they charge a higher percentage per card payment so they are only for people who only use the machine for small amounts.
Gary.
WHL
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by WHL »

glang3000 wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 10:20 pm Sorry for any confusion, My business is in the UK that's why I was quoting sterling, I would expect as there is a monopoly in Cyprus then the charges would be higher as they only seem to have JCC.

If in the UK you do not want to pay for the machine and other monthly charges there are a couple of new card companies like IZETLE where you can buy a small card machine however they charge a higher percentage per card payment so they are only for people who only use the machine for small amounts.
Gary.
I know first hand using JCC in my business, and the charges are a tiny fraction of what you are paying,
You are misinformed if you think think JCC have a monopoly in cyprus, there are quite a few card companys operating.
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ast
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by ast »

In our UK business we use Paymentsense who are one of Europe's biggest processors, the Terminal is £16 plus VAT a month then commission on the monthly totals, when you are talking of thousands of pounds a month going through the machine it can add up to a tidy cost. 8-)
Last edited by ast on Thu Nov 24, 2022 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by Sadie »

trevnhil wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 6:59 pm Sadie. Paps are now doing cashback on BOC Visa Cards :-)
Every time we’ve tried they always say no 🤷🏻‍♀️
If you never ask the question, the answer will always be....no
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ast
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by ast »

So Sorry i spoke Mr Bean. :o
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Re: Businesses that don't accept cards

Post by trevnhil »

Sadie wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 9:54 am
trevnhil wrote: Wed Nov 23, 2022 6:59 pm Sadie. Paps are now doing cashback on BOC Visa Cards :-)
Every time we’ve tried they always say no 🤷🏻‍♀️
They have only started cashback with Cy Visa Cards recently, but only cards issued in Cyprus.
I got 100 euros last week with my BOC Visa Card.
Trev..
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