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Old Oct 16, 2017 | 6:02 am
  #30  
der_saeufer
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15 Years on Site
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: MEX
Posts: 1,152
We're seeing fewer cash-only places in Western Europe since the EU capped interchange fees at 0.2% for debit and 0.3% for European consumer credit cards--in a busy counter-serve place, the time savings is more than the interchange fee.

I can't speak for other countries, but in Belgium it's still common for discount shops and small restaurants to take only the local debit cards, whose fees are capped by the network at 5c per transaction, because by accepting Visa/MC you also get to pay the higher interchange fees on business cards or cards issued outside the EU, and there are plenty of both in the wallets of Brussels.

...incidentally, this is why the credit card miles game is virtually nonexistent in Europe now.
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