The Federal Government is on course to pass legislation which would effectively force Belgian businesses to accept cash payments.
The law, which is currently being discussed by Federal Ministers after being proposed more than a year ago by Economy Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne (PS), would impose strict financial penalties on public and private companies that consistently refuse to accept cash, Le Soir reports.
The move to expand the acceptability of cash marks a noticeable shift in policy by the Federal Government, which has largely sought to digitalise payments over the past few years. Since July 2022, companies have been required by federal law to offer at least one electronic form of payment to customers.
"The government aims to expand electronic payments because it is one of the means among others to fight tax and social fraud," said a spokesperson for Dermagne.
Economy Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne. Credit: Belga/ Nicolas Maeterlinck
"But we also wanted to make sure that we didn't impose one payment method to the detriment of the other. This is particularly important for vulnerable people, especially the elderly," the spokesperson added. "Promoting the acceptance of cash will also help guarantee its accessibility."
The spokesperson noted that exceptions to the new rule would only be permitted on a "temporary" basis, including for Belgian public transport company STIB and train operator SNCB – both of which have prohibited onboard ticket purchases with cash in recent years. A special arrangement will be decided for these companies, who got rid of cash payments partly to protect employees.
Cash must remain an option
The legislation has been warmly welcomed by consumer rights groups as well as some business owners, who emphasise the convenience of cash payments as well as the exorbitant fees often charged by banks for card transactions.
"You have to be able to pay in cash and it would be wrong to think that this [rule] is only of interest to older people," Morgane Kubicki, a spokesperson for Financité, an NGO, told l'Echo earlier this year.
Kubicki's comments were echoed by Andy Prevoo, the Press and Communications Manager of the Union of the Middle Classes (UCM). "Our society is not yet ready to operate without cash. Paying by card at a football club's refreshment bar is not always possible. The bank fees and the cost of installing terminals remain too high."
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Yet some companies stressed that cash transactions also have associated problems, including hygiene issues and the difficulty of distinguishing between real and counterfeit money.
"PS would like to force merchants to accept cash but it is not concerned about their security or how to get rid of cash receipts," said Danny van Assche, managing director of the Flanders-based Organisation for the Self-Employed and SMEs (UNIZO).
Cash has become increasingly unpopular in Europe over the last few years. According to European Central Bank data, just 45% of purchases in Belgium were made with cash in 2022, down from 57% in 2019. Across the eurozone, the share of cash payments fell by a similar amount over the same period (from 72% to 59%).
The decreasing popularity of cash also plausibly explains why fewer customers now complain when it is not accepted. According to the Federal Public Service Economy, a Belgian government body, the number of official customer complaints against businesses which refused to accept cash has fallen this year to 179, down from 316 in 2022.
