A café owner is bucking Australia’s cashless trend by offering a discount to customers who pay in cash, claiming digital payments cause many unseen problems for small businesses.
Richy Marchandise, 42, is giving his cash-paying customers 10 per cent off everything at Mimolette Café in Windsor, Melbourne, in defiance of the seemingly irreversible move toward card payments.
The café operator, originally from France, has worked in hospitality for 20 years but said the industry is the worst he has ever seen it due to sharp increases in the price of supplies to his business, and people cutting back on discretionary spending due to cost-of-living pressures.
Mr Marchandise told Daily Mail Australia that discounting for cash transactions ‘helps everybody’.
‘There’s a crisis out there. If people can save a bit of money and help us with cash flow, it’s good,’ he said.
The business owner said his suppliers prefer to be paid in cash and when there are any delays to getting his electronic payments on time from EFTPOS – such as long weekends – there can be a ‘snowball effect’ that leaves him short of cashflow.
‘Public holidays are the worst time of the year for us. It means we won’t get money until the following Tuesday – which is five days without funds,’ he said.
‘I have to pay suppliers, I have to pay wages. My priority is to always pay wages on time because this is people’s rent money.’
Richy Marchandise, 42, (pictured) said he has experienced many problems with EFTPOS over the years and it can cost over $2,000 a year to run, plus he said there are extra costs such as paper receipt rolls
Mimolette Café in Windsor, Melbourne (pictured) is offering customers a 10 per cent discount if they pay in cash
The cashflow shortage had resulted in instances when he had to cancel big orders for lucrative catering jobs, simply because he was still waiting on the bank to forward the money he had taken in card payments.
Mr Marchandise also said that just having an EFTPOS machine costs him over $2,000 annually.
And there are other extras – such as paying up to $260 for a bulk purchase of paper receipt rolls.
‘And there are fees for EFTPOS payments to the customer as well. We get charged, you get charged. They make money out of us,’ he said.
Ongoing issues with the EFTPOS system had forced him to change providers five times over the course of 11 years.
Café operator Richy Marchandise said his customers have embraced cash payments, which have increased by an estimated 15 per cent
The café owner (pictured) said there have been multiple benefits from offering a discount to customers paying in cash, such as staff receiving tips and keeping his suppliers happy
‘On a busy Saturday if we have people queuing to order and then the EFTPOS is down, people walk off. We lose trade and we can’t afford to in this climate,’ he said.
Mr Marchandise said cash payments are up around 15 per cent since the discount was introduced.
His customers also get a further 30 cents reduction if they use a keep-cup.
‘With the 10 per cent cash discount, that is almost a dollar they have saved,’ he said.
On top of all the fees and increased costs, he said businesses were also paying UberEats 30 per cent plus extra to advertise and do promotions.
‘We took in $1,500 one week on UberEats but by the time all the commission and associated fees were taken out, we got $650,’ he said.
Mimolette Café in Windsor, Melbourne (pictured, the cafe’s desserts) is promoting the benefits of its customers paying in cash
Mr Marchandise’s staff have also benefitted people leaving their loose change as a tip – something that does not happen with card payments.
‘EFTPOS kills tips. When I worked 20 years ago in hospo, people used to drop tips in a jar – it helped pay my way through Swinburne University,’ he said.
‘Now the staff are getting tips and they are happy.’
Being more aware of the benefits of cash has also impacted Mr Marchandise’s family life.
‘When you use cash you see how much you spend. It is teaching my daughter the value of a dollar,’ he said.
Daily Mail Australia contacted EFTPOS Australia for comment.