True of False - Cash (euro's) necessary in Italy

South of Rome cash is still king, especially when you are paying less than € 10.

I just returned from 22 days in Italy - every place was north of Rome. I saw several restaurants & other places with a sign posted that people needed to spend a certain amount to pay by cc. I always paid in cash (pull money with my ATM Capital One card when needed.), other than for hotels.

I saw several restaurants & other places with a sign posted that people needed to spend a certain amount to pay by cc.

That practice is prohibited by CC companies as a violation of their TOS with vendors, but it is obviously hard for them to enforce a prohibition of charges that never happen. It used to be a real problem in the US, but that was at least a decade ago if not longer.

I saw several restaurants & other places with a sign posted that people needed to spend a certain amount to pay by cc. I

They do that in places that cater mostly to US tourists, an Italian would just say: "it's none of my business, you can take my card or pay the fine in cash at the post office".

Without mentioning that since 2020 they pay no cc fees when the amount is lower then 5 Euro.

I don’t know how prevalent this is currently; but many times in the past we experienced the following. We chose a restaurant with a Visa sticker in the window. When the bill came, the server took our card then returned saying that their cc machine was broken. Amazing how many Italian cc machines break down! 😡. To be fair, it also happened once in Nice. Maybe the contagion blew over from Italy. We have learned to carry enough cash to cover the cost of a dinner, just in case . . .

As an aside @ Rosalyn, you NEVER want to give your DC or CC to anyone, under any circumstances. If the merchant doesn't have a hand held POS device, you want to go with them to their nailed to the counter device - just saying.

I thought it was EU law that they can't take your card from you.

We used a credit card just about everywhere
Rome, Florence,Orvieto, Lucca
Tuscany hilltowns, etc this past April/May
We usually use cc for meals and hotels then cash for small purchases like a gelato or spritz

Most bring the cc processor to you, if not you go to counter to pay with card
No issues anywhere, nobody declined to accept cc or insisted on cash

Whatever could have been true yesterday will no longer be true starting this coming Thursday June 30.

There is a new law coming into effect at the end of this month that requires all entities selling products and services (from merchants to taxi drivers to lawyers, etc.) to accept digital payments or face a fine equal to €30 plus 4% of the value of the transaction refused. So they have no excuses anymore.

You can search the matter for yourself. The law is Law 36/2022 art. 18. A recent decree this month anticipated the implementation of the law to June 30 rather than Jan 2023. This is not an obscure law. It was front page news in all Italian media this past month.

This is one of the many articles you can find. IlSole24ore is Italy’s leading financial paper (like the Financial Times or the WSJ)

https://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/pos-obbligatorio-commercianti-e-studi-professionali-ecco-cosa-cambiera-fine-mese-AEgKtIeB?refresh_ce=1

We were there recently for 15 days and I cannot recall anywhere that did not accept visa, including the bathrooms in the train stations (1 euro and worth it to me- clean and stocked). While we used some cash for smaller purchases, like gelato, everything went on the credit card (which I checked online daily). We spent 5 nights in London and we never purchased British pounds. While we plan to return in the future and will likely carry some cash, we will not carry a lot.

That's great news Roberto! I'd much rather not have to worry about constantly pulling cash out of an ATM! This law could not have gone into effect at a better time; I leave on July 4th!

As Roberto says is true, even if your should face some weeks where somebody hasn't yet the POS for credit card.
In any case, in my opinion, 95% of times you will face no problems to pay with a credit card.

Another point is that American Express is less accepted in Italy than VISA or Mastercard. Be aware of it. If you have AE only you could face problems to pay with credit card only. The Italian law states that a vendor must have a POS for CC payments, but not that it should be enabled for any kind of CC.

@Rosalyn
Is true! There are some shops where the POS is always broken.... But sometimes is true, often connection problem to the bank.

Great to hear that credit card is acceptable in most place soon! Jumping in on this thread, does anyone have any idea if smartphone contactless payment is common in Italy? I uses Samsung Pay or Google Pay to be specific.

"... if smartphone contactless payment is common in Italy"

Ubiquitous

We spent all of April in Italy and experienced several cash only restaurants, a cash only wine tour guide, and train ticket machine that didn't like my Chase or Bank of America cards. We were in Rome, Cortona and Spello for home bases.

I imagine that will make it harder for merchants to cheat on taxes, as the Guardia di Finanza will have a solid record of transactions. Those who don't already use some form of electronic payment will now have to pay a percentage to the credit cards companies. I wonder if they will increase prices to compensate?

still in italy. started in reggio calabria and have worked my up from the south. based myself in bari, lecce and matera but traveled to many small towns, especially in puglia. i would say i notice no difference in the percentage of acceptance of credit cards in the south vs central/north italy. i agree with the 95% cc acceptance mentioned by others. only in a few small mom & pop stores and buses (buying tickets on board) was i asked for cash.

I was there in April I used a mix of both and never had any issues. I don’t recall anywhere not taking cards but good idea to always have some cash on hand in case.

In some countries I’ve experienced being offered a lower price if paying with cash rather than credit card. Does anyone know if this law requires the same price no matter how you pay?

@ Aussie. While this may occasionally be true, I think it is too big of a sweeping generalization to say that everyone who offers a cash discount is somehow cheating on their taxes. If your statement was true, we'd have to be turning in Rick Steves Europe which offers a cash discount when paying for your tour............... In the case of Rick Steves Europe, I'm pretty sure they are simply passing some savings on to customers by not paying the credit card processing fees.

Regardless of who accepts cards and who does not it is always a good idea to have cash on hand for emergencies and small purchases. The small business owner has to pay a fee/percentage to settle their card transactions, so much better for them to have cash for smaller (under 20€) purchases. During the day our purchases are small and we use mostly cash, at night we do not want to be carrying cash and use a card for the larger dinner bill. Most of our excursions are pre-paid so not really using the card for that. You may run into an opportunity that is cash only and to not have any would be a shame, the only instance I can think of for us was some photos taken by the companies photographer on a Seine River Cruise that took cash only, and the picture came out so good we had to purchase.

I guess I am just too old to learn different ways. Not sure I understand the opposition to using cash. Personally I think it is more secure and handier. Don't have to worry about who has had access to my credit card. Except for hotels and major meals we tend to use cash. But we have done it for decades so it is just easier for us. We have paid a lot of hotel bills with cash because of a 5 to 10% discount that adds up over time. Maybe they are avoiding some taxes. I don't know but it is not my job to police it. And it happens in US just as much.

I agree with Frank. I have always used cash when traveling except for expensive hotels. I don’t want to worry about saving receipts to compare with my statement, and with my bank I don’t have to pay any cash withdrawal fees anywhere in the world.

I long ago made the decision to not chase around looking for ATMs to pull large amounts of Euro to settle hotel bills - the savings are miniscule when weighed against the total trip cost - I roll with the convenience of CCs.

As for merchants, I Tap out everything - it's the cost of doing business - if the merchant balks at me paying with a CC, I just move along to another merchant - no hard feelings.

I don’t like to carry around large amounts of cash. I also don’t want to run to an ATM every other day. Also, my bank charges a $5.00 fee each time I use an ATM that does not belong to my bank.

I always have some cash on hand and access to cash, but I prefer to use a credit card. I also rack up points using my credit card that I can’t using cash. The points can be used towards airline tickets or goods.

We just got back from two weeks all over Italy, and used my credit card for just about every purchase over 10 Euros. But it was good to have cash for things like bus fare, coffee, gelato, a can of Coke Zero, and occasional bigger purchases.

When you pull cash, try to use machines affiliated with banks. There are also lots ATMs that charge a bigger percentage markup, like 14%. It tells you on the screen what the markup is, but sometimes you're in a rush. Better to withdraw 200 EUR when you're clearly at a bank and just have it. You can give any you don't need to your bank when you get home at the current exchange rate.

...don't need to your bank when you get home at the current exchange rate..... That is not quite accurate. If you bank will buy foreign currency -- not all will -- the buy back rate will be at a discount to the current exchange rate. Probably in the range of 5 to 10%. Better to save 'em for you next trip or sell to one of your neighbors.

"You can give any you don't need to your bank"

BEST thing to do is clear your last hotel bill with your remaining cash and return home with zero foreign currency because for many, they have no idea when their next trip will be. Done.

Leftover cash? That's what the duty free shop at the airport is for. You're going to get hosed if you do an exchange anyway, might as well get some chocolate for it.

Anyway, starting from today the POS for debit and credit card payment is mandatory for everybody. So nobody can legally refuse to accept a payment with a credit card. (of course: if somebody refuse you should call police or carabinieri to make the payment accepted making an official charge and I know that is not so nice and is very much time consuming for a tourist...)

Two times when I've specifically needed cash in Italy (though this goes back to my most recent trip there in 2015): the light boxes in churches where you pay to have a chapel illuminated and the boxes for contributions to help with maintenance expenses in churches without entry fees.

I've needed cash in London for all the free-but-donation-requested museums.

"to help with maintenance expenses in churches without entry fees."

"Debit and Credit card processing terminals are another way congregations can receive gifts in a society which is more and more cashless. Terminals can be passed around the congregation during the offering, or set up at the back of the church for people to give as they come or go."

We just returned from Florence ... mostly we used credit cards (always pick the option to pay in Euro not USD for the better exchange rate). Finding bank ATM's in the cities is not hard. We always have cash with us to buy the little things like street food or fruit and the markets. Have a great trip!!!

Just returned from 2 weeks in Italy. Now almost everywhere including Gelato shops were taking credit card on contactless system. Only time you may have an issue in Europe is with older transit ticket machine that require a PIN, as most US cards are signature.