Italy's Digital Travel Payments Anomaly
Skift Take
Cash is king is a well-known business mantra. But it looks like it is Italy's as well, and fairly archaic considering advancements in digital payments that don't always necessarily equate to punitive fees.
The pandemic accelerated a global shift towards digital payments, but in Italy signs are emerging of a slowdown.
The country's new prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, earlier this month wanted to give Italian merchants the right to refuse digital payments for transactions below €60 ($64), according to reports, arguing that the commission paid to banks or digital payment providers was too high.
The country’s previous government had introduced fines for shops that refused card payments. She also planned to raise the ceiling for legal cash transactions from $1,060 to $5,300, and suggested digital payments lead to “spying and profiling every habit of the citizens,” according to the Financial Times report.
