“Dear customer, we inform you that We do not accept cash payments!”. The notice, finished off with an exclamation point, is clearly visible on the counter of a bakery chain that already has eight stores in Greater Lisbon. Here, even if you only buy a small loaf of bread, you can only pay with a bank card or MBWay, ie bills and coins are useless. Lawyers interviewed by the Observer say it’s not legal, but the Bank of Portugal seems to be very unconcerned.. And the clients do not complain? “Yes, they do complain…” says a store employee, with a Brazilian accent – “to complain toooooo… but then buy it anyway”.
In case of Gleba Bakeries, mentioned above, is not the only example of a trend that seems to be on the rise. To consume at some music and culture festivals this summer (such as Meo Kalorama), bank card payments were also the norm. and no Time Out Market Lisbon, restaurant and small business in the capital, it is also not possible to pay in cash in the different restaurants that operate there.
The company that manages the space, however, rejects the idea that those who do not have a bank card cannot consume there and speaks of an alternative: those who only have cash or do not want to use their bank card can buy a prepaid card at paid entry – this card costs 1.5 euros and cannot retrieve unused values.
In Meo Kalorama, the scenario was similar. In the points of sale of drinks and other products, within the enclosure, there were no ATMs [vulgarmente conhecidas como caixas multibanco] and, as can be read on the event website, only credit/debit card payments were accepted. “For people without a card, they can conveniently load existing cards with cash to be able to consume“, can be read on the web (where it was not said that this card really cost one euro).
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Source: Observadora
