I recently went to a local fast food restaurant and was surprised that there was a minimum purchase amount for debit and credit cards.
Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, the authorities have been campaigning for the adoption of digital transactions.
So for a popular eatery like the one I went to, I naturally assumed that any amount would do. Unless my assumption was wrong, that the contactless payment initiative was part of the measures to keep COVID-19 under a tight lid.
Yet, we are in the digital era, where more and more shops have card terminals; even the convenience store in my neighbourhood recently acquired one to meet the demand. And I certainly don’t think they have set a minimum purchase amount for their customers.
Perhaps the time is ripe for the authorities to meet with banking institutions on how best to encourage the adoption of contactless payment, especially among micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), whose profit margins are comparatively lower than chained restaurants and supermarkets.
Cashless Fan
