It looks like Visa wants to kill cash transactions. The credit card company announced last week that they are spending $500,000 to get restaurants to move completely cashless. They say they will give $10k to each of 50 “qualifying restaurants, eateries, cafes, and food trucks” as an incentive to make the transition.
The gift of $10k, according to Visa, is to pay for technology upgrades so that the merchant will be able to accept transactions in every possible form… except cash.
“At Visa, we believe you can be everywhere you want to be, and that it should be easy to pay and be paid in more ways than ever – whether it’s a phone, card, wearable or other device,” Jack Forestell, Visa’s head of global merchant solutions, said in a statement. “We have an incredible opportunity to educate merchants and consumers alike on the effectiveness of going cashless.”
It makes sense that Visa wants to do away with cash transactions. They make money on every transaction using one of their cards. The company claims to have discovered, through market research, that cities that make better use of digital payments can both make and save a lot more money. How you might ask? Efficiency and Labor. Visa claims that in New York City businesses could generate an $6.8 billion more dollars in revenue and save more than 186 million hours of labor by making greater use of digital payments.
Now, converting 50 restaurants to be completely cashless isn’t going to change the whole market. Not even close. This is a test from Visa to see how realistic cashless businesses can be. They want to be able to show other businesses that it’s a good business move to stop accepting cash. I’m sure that we will be seeing reports and statistics coming from Visa’s marketing department if this experiment is successful. The question is, what will Visa do next if they can prove it is worth it to bribe businesses to go cashless?
