“It’s Cheaper To Pay With Cash”: Customer Makes Cashier Regret Pushing Their Policy On Them

Despite being around for ages, some places still have old-fashioned views and policies around payment methods. From only taking cash to refusing to touch the stuff, attitudes really may vary. But it never feels nice to be on the short end of any policy.

But one restaurant patron decided to put their regular spot to the test. After being constantly told that “it’s cheaper to pay with cash,” they waltzed in with a large stack of coins. Their malicious compliance earned them a decent amount of scorn from the readers, while some enjoyed their pettiness.

Depending on where you are, attitudes towards cash can really vary quite a bit. For example, despite being a highly developed and industrialized nation, Germany is rife with “cash-only” businesses. Indeed, the Bundesbank, Germany's central bank, believes that over half of all purchases use cash instead of plastic.

Ironically, the same report found that more modern payment systems, like using one’s phone, Google account, or smartwatch were also taking off. Cards appear to be in a sort of middle ground where they are still seen as old-fashioned compared to more modern offerings, but also not as convenient as cash.

However, Germans (and to a lesser extent, the Swiss) are fanatical about the privacy afforded by using cash. On the other hand, in many places, people greatly enjoy the convenience of using a card, as it’s a lot less risky than carrying large sums of money on hand, and let's be honest, who likes dealing with change?

For example, Sweden is an almost completely cashless economy (only 6% of transactions use cash), which many citizens find highly convenient and helps with transparency and bookkeeping. However, there are a multitude of reasons why a business might actually prefer to use one method or the other.

If a business uses just cash, the first impulse of many is to suspect that they simply want to avoid paying taxes. This is, unfortunately, quite often the case, but there are often transaction fees attached to purchases that interfere with a store's margins. After all, it’s still better to lose a few customers than to actually take a loss on multiple transactions.

These will differ from place to place, as regulations around card use are not uniform. For example, in the nation of Georgia (Sakartvelo) cashiers will ask which bank you use, as they have separate payment terminals for each one. Naturally, using one bank's terminal with another’s card will lead to a larger payment fee.

However, in all of these places, there is at least a certain standard that, once understood, helps guide the customer. If you happen to live in a place where nearly every location will have its own policy, you will probably end up like OP, unreasonably angry that something isn’t quite like you want it.