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Cash only in Berlin

thecritic.co.uk

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Re: Cash only in Berlin

#21

Post by nibbleshifter »

flohofwoe wrote: post #13
nibbleshifter wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany its a cultural thing. People just prefer the option of privacy.

Then people should be free to use cash, but there's no need to lock out people who prefer card payment (I also prefer cash, but mainly because I'm old-fashioned). But if a restaurant has a sign in the door "no card payment due to technical problems" for years, it's probably neither a technical nor a cultural/ideological issue ;)

Card payment involves fees, and buying an ePoS system, etc.

There's also the parallel EC Card system in Germany, most ePoS terminals only support normal cards, or EC card.

Its easier to just accept cash. Everyone who lives there knows cash is king, and the tourists figure it out within a short span of time.

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#22

Post by xeromal »

sneak wrote: post #2

I was quite surprised to see signs at Aufbau Haus (Moritzplatz) saying that card payment is preferred. I refuse to pay with cards at point of sale anywhere I go; airports are making it quite difficult these days. Thankfully NYC made a local law in November 2020 that prohibits businesses from declining to accept cash. I wish more cities would follow suit.

A lot of businesses here in LA stopped accepting cash due to COVID and never resumed cash payments. Kind of a bummer.

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#23

Post by w-m »

Febra33 wrote: post #11

The author of this article seems to make some very obscure points here. First and foremost: "You have to work pretty hard to find a bar serving traditional Germanic beverages and food." What does the author define as "Germanic" beverages and food? As a german that has lived for some time in Berlin I'm quite sure that there are more than enough places to grab "Germanic" beverages and food at. They just don't stand out…

That's a bit of a harsh tone, but the author didn't leave a good impression by getting their German names wrong. The second mention of Schnauze is missing an e, as is

> Kastanienalle Strasse

It's Kastanienallee. And as it's an Allee (an avenue lined with trees), it can't be a Straße (a street). Even if it were a Straße, it would be one word, or hyphenated. Sigh.

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#24

Post by flohofwoe »

nibbleshifter wrote: post #21
flohofwoe wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then people should be free to use cash, but there's no need to lock out people who prefer card payment (I also prefer cash, but mainly because I'm old-fashioned). But if a restaurant has a sign in the door "no card payment due to technical problems" for years, it's probably neither a technical nor a cultural/ideological issue ;)

Card payment involves fees, and buying an ePoS system, etc. There's also the parallel EC Card system in Germany, most ePoS terminals only support normal cards, or EC card. Its easier to just accept cash. Everyone who lives there knows cash is king, and the tourists figure it out within a short span of time.

Yeah, with "card payment" I mean EC cards of course, not necessarily credit cards :)

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#25

Post by jobs_throwaway »

numlock86 wrote: post #10

If a merchant, especially in Germany, asks for cash, it's for tax evasion. It's as simple as that. And no, I don't care about your anecdotes how that is not true for your particular case. A small number of exceptions exist of course.

Any evidence behind that wild claim?

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#26

Post by Febra33 »

w-m wrote: post #23
Febra33 wrote: post #11

The author of this article seems to make some very obscure points here. First and foremost: "You have to work pretty hard to find a bar serving traditional Germanic beverages and food." What does the author define as "Germanic" beverages and food? As a german that has lived for some time in Berlin I'm quite sure that there are more than enough places to grab "Germanic" beverages and food at. They just don't stand out…

That's a bit of a harsh tone, but the author didn't leave a good impression by getting their German names wrong. The second mention of Schnauze is missing an e, as is > Kastanienalle Strasse It's Kastanienallee. And as it's an Allee (an avenue lined with trees), it can't be a Straße (a street). Even if it were a Straße, it would be one word, or hyphenated. Sigh.

The author literally starts the article with "The city is struggling to remain itself"

This article seems more like propaganda than actual journalism.

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#27

Post by vikingerik »

Febra33 wrote: post #11

The author of this article seems to make some very obscure points here. First and foremost: "You have to work pretty hard to find a bar serving traditional Germanic beverages and food." What does the author define as "Germanic" beverages and food? As a german that has lived for some time in Berlin I'm quite sure that there are more than enough places to grab "Germanic" beverages and food at. They just don't stand out…

What Americans think is German is often mostly the Bavarian stereotypes. Pretzels, sausage, lederhosen, Oktoberfest. It's common for Americans to be surprised when they find Berlin or Frankfurt isn't full of that stuff.

The same happens in reverse: some Europeans think America is the land of cowboys and guns and fireworks, but that's really more like just Texas, and when they go to New York they're surprised by seeing none of that.

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#28

Post by Dries007 »

flohofwoe wrote: post #20
ch4s3 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like avoiding credit card fees is a perfectly reasonable explanation, at least in the US where fees exceed 3%. It’s trivial for governments to catch businesses that hold a lot of inventory and are cheating on taxes by more than small amounts.

Usually this then says "No card payment under 10 Euros", but still offer card payment for bigger amounts where the fee doesn't matter as much (which IMHO is completely ok).

This is no longer legal under the PSD2 framework.

In Belgium since last summer you have to accept at least 1 form of digital payment now. Some places try to bypass it by only accepting some obscure creditcards.

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#29

Post by Towaway69 »

numlock86 wrote: post #10

If a merchant, especially in Germany, asks for cash, it's for tax evasion. It's as simple as that. And no, I don't care about your anecdotes how that is not true for your particular case. A small number of exceptions exist of course.

Olaf Scholz - the countries leader - is involved in the largest tax evasion scandal in the country - CumEx. He knew about it and did nothing to prevent it.

What kind of example does that set for the small business people in the country?

The politicians are massively corrupt in Germany (Berlins mayor lost her doctor title because she cheated and then she became mayor).

I can understand it when small business operators also want to avoid taxes - as the banks regularly also do.

Re: Cash only in Berlin

#30

Post by sneak »

xeromal wrote: post #22
sneak wrote: post #2

I was quite surprised to see signs at Aufbau Haus (Moritzplatz) saying that card payment is preferred. I refuse to pay with cards at point of sale anywhere I go; airports are making it quite difficult these days. Thankfully NYC made a local law in November 2020 that prohibits businesses from declining to accept cash. I wish more cities would follow suit.

A lot of businesses here in LA stopped accepting cash due to COVID and never resumed cash payments. Kind of a bummer.

It's pretty straightforward to make oneself a right nuisance at these sorts of places when service/food has already been rendered: just leave your cards at home.

I've yet to find a retail place that wouldn't take cash payment after I'd already eaten. Usually one of the staff just puts it on their card.

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