ALL traders in Spain will soon have to offer alternatives to cash payments for customers for purchases over €30, thanks to a new law under construction in Parliament.
The legislation responds to a European directive, number PSD2 covering payment services, which seeks to increase the facility for paying by card, mobile phone or online and to reinforce security with electronic payments.
Spain has long been a pro-cash society, with many shops and even restaurants unable, or refusing, to take payment by card for any amount, but this has begun to change rapidly in the last few years – those already offering card payment facilities above a certain figure have lowered, relaxed or axed this minimum limit in many cases, whilst gradually more and more premises are accepting cards.
Already, supermarket chains in Spain accept card payment for any amount, even a few cents, and bars and coffee shops are becoming more flexible, especially in airports and other large commercial complexes.
No extra fees can, or are, ever charged for paying by card.
Once the law is in force, payment methods accepted must be displayed in a visible area of the shop, bar, restaurant or trade premises in qustion.
Also, the current limit that a customer has to bear him or herself in the event of unauthorised payments with their cards or mobile phones, at €150, will drop to €50.
Centre-right Ciudadanos, Spain's fourth-largest political party at national level, said in its electoral manifesto that it would pass a law obliging all traders to accept card payments for transactions of €10 or more.
At the moment, the maximum cash-only sum is set to be €30, but following Ciudadanos' announcement, many traders started to become more willing to accept cards and it is likely that lower limits will begin to cease altogether.
