That's not entirely untrue, as you can indeed ring a bell and someone comes from behind the ATM to help you. Why I was not allowed to withdraw money on Sunday even if I did not need help is beyond me and so every monay I stood in the queue before the ATMs of people who couldn't get their money on Sunday either.
Also, I pay 0,68€ with debit or credit card in Europe whereas I had to lug around coins and stuff in Japan. Very cash-centric.
I've noticed that even in the USA, it is much more common for smaller "Mom & Pop" shops and restaurants owned and operated by Asians (not just Japanese, but Chinese, Filipinos, etc) to be cash-only, or if they do accept debit/credit cards they have very high minimum purchase requirements.
I get the reasoning behind why they do this (to avoid the handling charge overhead), but I've always wondered why the decision to do so seems to be far more prevalent with some cultures than others and I've always wondered if it is really a net negative for them as there are quite a few places I would otherwise go to frequently but avoid (because I know that as someone who prefers not to carry around a lot of cash that paying will be a bit of a pain in the ass at those places). Presumably I'm not the only one who makes this choice regularly.
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That's not entirely untrue, as you can indeed ring a bell and someone comes from behind the ATM to help you. Why I was not allowed to withdraw money on Sunday even if I did not need help is beyond me and so every monay I stood in the queue before the ATMs of people who couldn't get their money on Sunday either.
Also, I pay 0,68€ with debit or credit card in Europe whereas I had to lug around coins and stuff in Japan. Very cash-centric.
I've noticed that even in the USA, it is much more common for smaller "Mom & Pop" shops and restaurants owned and operated by Asians (not just Japanese, but Chinese, Filipinos, etc) to be cash-only, or if they do accept debit/credit cards they have very high minimum purchase requirements.
I get the reasoning behind why they do this (to avoid the handling charge overhead), but I've always wondered why the decision to do so seems to be far more prevalent with some cultures than others and I've always wondered if it is really a net negative for them as there are quite a few places I would otherwise go to frequently but avoid (because I know that as someone who prefers not to carry around a lot of cash that paying will be a bit of a pain in the ass at those places). Presumably I'm not the only one who makes this choice regularly.