CashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More is the cheapest payment methodSee Payment instrument. More in terms of costs incurred for merchants, a cleavage largely caused by interchange fees merchants are subject to when using credit and debit card paymentA transfer of funds which discharges an obligation on the part of a payer vis-à-vis a payee. More terminals. Also, cash turns out to be the most efficient payment method the larger the company. For example “for merchants with a turnover of more than €200 million per annum in the retail sector other than cars in the UK […], the time for a transaction was of only 24.13 seconds versus 35.17 for debit cards and 38.89 for credit cards” (Winchcombe, p.4). And finally, cash actually brings a direct financial benefit to society thanks to the seignorage paid to the central bank for using it, contrary to cards which only result in income for banks and scheme operators.
John Winchcombe analyses and compares the cost of cashAlthough banknotes are delivered to the citizens free of charge and their use does not involve a specific fee, costs are generated during their manufacturing, storage and circulation process, which are covered by different social agents (central banks, commercial banks, retailers etc). More versus cards especially for CashEssentials in his research paperSee Banknote paper. More “Cash and Card Usage by the Public and Merchants”. The report was written following the European Commission’s decision to cap card interchange fees in the Eurozone. The data in the report is based on the European Commission’s Directorate General for Competition’s 2015 investigative work carried out to cap card interchange fees.