Small Cairns business praised for cash stance

A restaurant has been praised for educating customers about the benefits of paying with cash, but its owner said a lot of people simply “don’t care”.

EXCLUSIVE
A restaurant has been praised for educating customers about the benefits of paying with cash rather than by card.

The praise came after a member of the Cash is King Australia Facebook group posted an image of a sign on display at Helga’s Pancake House in Cairns, which urges customers to pay with cash when they dine.

Helga’s owner, Birgit Machnitzke told news.com.au that while the business wasn’t exclusively cash only, she put up the sign to raise awareness about the cost of electronic payments.

“For me, it’s all about choices,” Ms Machnitzke said.

The sign on display at Helga’s Pancake House in Cairns. Picture: Facebook.

The sign reads: “Join the cash revolution. Banks make up to $1 million per hour on payment fees. Don’t let the banks cash in on you! Pay with cash today!”

She added that up until about six months ago, the small business was paying transaction fees of around $1,000 – $1,200 a month to the banks after taking the decision not to pass card payment surcharges on to its customers.

But Ms Machnitzke said with the cost of most of her inputs rising, at that time she decided she could no longer absorb the card payment fees and began charging a card surcharge to customers paying by EFTPOS or credit cards.

Helga's Pancake House owner Birgit Machnitzke said many customers don’t care that they have to pay a card surcharge. Picture: Brendan Radke

According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, the average transaction fee charged by the banks on EFTPOS transactions is less than 0.5 per cent of the transaction value, while Visa and MasterCard debit cards attract a fee of between 0.5 and one per cent of the transaction value and Visa and MasterCard credit cards attract a fee of between one and 1.5 per cent of the transaction value.

But despite the surcharge, she told news.com.au the majority of her customers continue to pay by card.

“It’s going to save them money [to use cash] but a lot don’t care.”

However, she said since displaying the sign she was having more conversations with customers about the benefits of paying with cash.

Ms Machnitzke has also started offering customers who pay in cash a five per cent discount.

Members of the Facebook group, which advocates for the wider use of cash, praised the move.

“That’s the best sign yet,” one wrote.

“Onya Cairns Pancake House. Well done,” commented another.

“Not all heroes wear capes,” a third member wrote.

The Cairns business is bucking the trend of businesses prohibiting cash payments by instead offering a discount for cash. Picture: Google Maps.

The move by Helga’s Pancake House comes at a time when debate is raging about the future of cash in Australia, with some experts predicting we could become a largely cashless society by 2026, as less than one in 10 payments are now made using cash.

Increasing numbers of businesses are also moving in that direction by refusing to accept cash payments.

McDonald’s has become the latest business to shun cash with several outlets across Melbourne’s eastern and southern suburbs going cashless between midnight and 6am citing staff security concerns.

A historic bakery in the NSW south coast town of Milton has also attracted criticism for becoming cashless.

A sign displayed at the bakery said they made the move because cashless is “quick, clean and accurate”.