Overview
- Berlin’s CDU and SPD are drafting a Bundesrat initiative that would require shops and eateries across Germany to accept card or other digital payments.
- The proposal keeps cash in place and carves out exemptions for missing network coverage, unmanned sales points, or hardship cases for very small businesses.
- Backers say the change would make paying easier for customers and cut undeclared sales, citing coverage that estimates tax losses in cash-heavy sectors in the tens of billions of euros each year.
- The plan needs a majority in the Bundesrat to pressure the federal government to act after a coalition pledge to expand digital payment options stalled.
- Bavaria’s finance minister welcomed more card use but defended cash and consumer choice, while trade groups warned about ongoing fees and weak rural internet and asked for a phased rollout for small firms.