Will Italy Go Digital?

On 30 June 2022, Italy introduced a law fining merchants €30, plus 4% of the transaction value, if they did not accept a card payment. This applies even to low-value transactions. For example, if a card payment of €10 is not accepted, the merchant could face a penalty of €30.40 (€30 + €0.40).

This law, along with vigorous promotion of card payments, has led Italy to having some of the highest rates of card accepting merchants per million inhabitants in Europe.

This has not led, though, to Italy having similarly high levels of card payments at the point-of-sale (POS).

Merchant perspective

In 2022 cash remained the most widely used from of consumer payment, with 67% of transactions made in cash. It appears that cash is seen as a lower cost payment instrument than cards since there are no fees, and cash flow is instant. The lack of tax authority oversight no doubt plays a role.