Europe's cashless payment push challenges small cafés and shoppers

A German study by Mastercard and orderbird found that 84.6% of surveyed gastronomy businesses now accept cashless payments, noting that customers expect card or smartphone payment and that lacking a terminal can lead to lost sales. Restaurants, food‑trucks and bistros have different requirements: mobility for mobile vendors, fast transaction speed for busy lunch service, and tip‑entry functions for staff.

In Trieste, Italy, a shopper was unable to buy a litre of milk with exact cash because the checkout automatically rounded the €1.49 price up to €1.50, rejecting the payment. The purchase was completed with a debit card at the listed price. The rounding follows rules instituted after the 2018 phase‑out of 1‑ and 2‑cent coins, which round amounts ending in 1, 2, 6 or 7 down and those ending in 3, 4, 8 or 9 up, a policy aiming to reduce cash usage across Europe.