Federal Council against acceptance obligation
Is cash dying?
The Federal Council is of the opinion that cash does not necessarily have to be accepted in Switzerland. An obligation to accept cash would be too great an encroachment on economic freedom and freedom of contract.
1/5
Is this the end of cash? The Federal Council is against an obligation to accept cash.
On Friday, the Federal Council approved a report that it had written on behalf of Parliament. He is of the opinion that a “large-scale disappearance” of cash must be avoided as long as there is no equivalent cashless alternative.
Because cash has important functions that cannot completely replace cashless means of payment. It gives the general public access to central bank money, strengthens crisis resilience to failures of electronic payment systems, and protects privacy.
people should be able to choose
Nobody should be excluded, according to an argument by the Federal Council: the purse also enables people without a bank account and without access to cashless means of payment to participate in economic life.
Nevertheless, as is the case today, the Federal Council wants to give households and companies the choice between cash and alternative means of payment. He considers a mandatory obligation to accept cash to be neither appropriate nor necessary.
Federal Council wants to keep an eye on developments
Cash is still often used in Switzerland and acceptance is only limited in certain areas, he writes. An exception should also be made for online trading, he points out. Because an acceptance obligation would be “hardly practicable”.
However, the Federal Council wants to keep an eye on the development of cash. He has commissioned the Department of Finance (FDF) to report regularly on the development of cash access and innovations in alternative means of payment. If necessary, the FDF should indicate options for action.
The FDF must also set up a round table on cash transactions. The Swiss National Bank (SNB), the federal government, the banks, retailers, service providers and consumer associations and other stakeholders are to take their places. (SDA)