Paying in Cash May Become Constitutional Right for Austrians
- Cabinet wants to guarantee access to ATMs, cash payment option
- Austria has one of highest densities of cash machines in EU
Austrians take cash very seriously. About 54% of them still use it to pay for groceries.
Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg
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Austria’s government plans to anchor the right to use cash in its constitution, addressing a hot topic for opposition parties agitating about digital currencies.
The government in Vienna has set up a task force to establish how it can enshrine payments with physical money as a constitutional right. That would ensure cash continues to be accepted in shops, and to guarantee access to ATMs to all residents.