they will be forced to offer the possibility of paying electronically! (video)
All Belgian businesses will soon offer an alternative to payment in cash, mean having an electronic or digital payment terminal. It was the federal government that decided that. A digital shift accelerated by the coronavirus crisis which is pushing more and more citizens to pay with their card for a question of hygiene.
In fact and on the ground, this new decision by the government divided. As a report from our RTL colleagues shows, there are those who are usually resistant to change. “I’ve already been charged twice for the same thing. It’s finish. I deleted the ‘contactless’ from my card. I only pay in cash! », Confides a customer of a cheese-delicatessen.
For others, paying by card has become a habit. “As a general rule, the whole mode has become accustomed to paying by card. With the new contactless system, everyone has taken the plunge ”, confides the manager of the establishment.
As for the small independents, this new government decision does not pass at all. “We have already passed a rather complicated period, if it is to add additional costs to us … it’s good, we had our dose”, explains a hamburger seller at RTL.
Because if the proposed solution will make life easier for Belgians, it aims above all to avoid fraud and, therefore, a possible shortfall for Belgium.
“After the crisis, we have a lot of electronic payments that have developed. On a lot of possibilities. We are no longer with the card, we are no longer with the shoe. We are really in a context where this has become acceptable from the moment we also authorize cash, ”concludes the Union of the Middle Classes.