This one is very frustrating. If anything it should be obligatory to make payment processor fee to be a separate item. This way we would have fair competition with consumers choosing the cheapest/most convenient option.

Airlines such as Ryanair in Europe do this.

One of the regulations that airlines in europe are required to adhere to is that they're not allowed to advertise up-front prices that come with additional non-optional fees. So the ticket price advertised up front has to include all mandatory fees and taxes. Optional fees (hand luggage now being the latest, priority boarding, checked luggage) can be extra.

Payment processor fees cannot be extra. At least one needs to be free. So in reality, it's not necessarily the cheapest processor that's free, but it's the least popular one that's free. That way, for all the common ones, you can now charge a fee and tick the regulatory box, while still screwing your customers out of more money.

E.g. Visa Electron is free, Visa Debit/Credit, Mastercard debit/credit and Amex all come with fees to use.

Funniest is that nowadays card payments are likely cheaper to process for merchants than cash - if you account properly for all costs. So credit card companies should start lobbying to allow different pricing based on payment methods.

If you're a large retailer and have been able to negotiate good rates with a payment processor and are in a country where interchange fees are capped (e.g., EU countries), then I can see it. But I doubt that it's the case in the US where those fees have to fund 2% cashback programmes etc.

Even for a small retailer, (i)zettle costs 1.75%[1] per transaction. No monthly fees. I honestly can't see how cash can compete with that. You need to spend time managing your change. You need to have some kind of register. You need to take your cash to the bank (which is far from free, and takes time). You need to manage your operations so that nobody steals or loses your money. Only "benefit" in cash is that tax avoidance may be easier, if you are into such things.

If I'd start a small business, I would flat out refuse to take cash. (in Europe)

[1] https://www.zettle.com/gb/help/articles/1084775-pricing

I think it's totally doable if you can avoid cash completely, but for most of the costs of handling it, they hit when you take your first dollar. If you're already buying a cash register, counting, making change, stocking cash/change, making a trip to the bank, etc., the incremental costs of additional cash transactions are minimal. Even with steps up for things like time-locked safes or pickups by armored cars.

I agree with the sentiment, though. I guess realistically if it were my business, I'd need some significant evidence that I wouldn't be losing money by not accepting cash. That's the extraordinary claim, after all, with the vast majority of businesses doing it.

I think I've seen a few food trucks in my area that don't take cash.