A quarter of people in the Czech Republic have encountered the fact that they stopped accepting payment cards in a store. Residents of the eastern half of the country noticed this problem more often. This follows from a June survey conducted by the STEM/MARK agency among 509 respondents for the ATM provider Euronet. The authors of the survey presented its results to journalists on Tuesday.
According to the survey, almost half of the people who have met in the last year that traders they stopped taking cards, they usually carry enough cash with them. A third try to find an ATM and a fifth go elsewhere where cards are accepted, Euronet Executive Director Ondřej Kozák said during the presentation of the survey.
“Compared to last year, the number of people who use cash frequently increased by 11 percentage points. Overall, this is 42 percent of respondents. The frequent use of cash was mainly reported by the residents of Moravia,” said Kozák.
Will the banknotes disappear? Politicians have postponed the plan to limit cash, they are dealing with digital currency
According to the survey, a third of people use cash on a daily basis, last year it was a quarter. At least once a week uses cash up to 94 percent of people, the survey found.
According to him, the main reason people pay in cash remains the same. He is that businessman doesn’t take cards. Other reasons include the need to change habits or greater control over one’s own finances. The most frequently spontaneously mentioned reason is the payment of a small amount.
Poor availability of ATMs
For the Czech Republic, the first choice for obtaining cash is to withdraw from an ATM. 66 percent of people come here at least once a month. Men and residents of larger cities tend to make more frequent selections.
“We keep meeting the bad one availability of ATMs especially in small towns where they are most needed. Less than a third of the respondents said that they have an ATM very far from their place of residence. Residents of municipalities with less than 1,000 inhabitants have the worst accessibility, where only 22 percent of them have an ATM within walking distance. On the other hand, residents of Prague state that the availability of ATMs is definitely sufficient,” said Kozák.
We will not give fees to the banks. At Krkonoše huts, you need cash when paying
45 percent of people would welcome more ATMs in places where they move during the day. The greatest interest in them is in municipalities with up to 1,000 inhabitants.
Compared to last year’s findings, according to the survey authors, the availability of ATMs has not greatly improved.
Right to cash
Behind the reluctance of some merchants to accept card payments may be, according to experts, an effort to reduce tax levies.
The Senate rejected it in February this year initiative of a group of senators around Jitka Chalánková from the ODS club and TOP 09 for the constitutional enshrining of the right to payment in cash.
Chalánková pointed to people’s concerns about the fact that cashless payments will either become mandatory in connection with the development of digitization, or that they will completely displace cash payments. In June, Chalánková stated that she was preparing a proposal that would enshrine the right of citizens not to use information technology. According to her, it would supplement her original proposal to enact the right to cash payments.
2023-09-05 18:50:32
#Shopping #store #doesnt #accept #cards #Czechs #ATM
