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Austria’s love of cash in poll campaign spotlight
VIENNA, Aug 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – It may sound like a strange thing to
enshrine in a country’s constitution: the right to pay cash.
But a debate on whether to do just that has entered Austria’s election
campaign, shining a light on the country’s love of cold, hard currency.
The Austrian People’s Party (OeVP) recently made the suggestion as part of
its campaign for a parliamentary election in late September, for which it has
a commanding poll lead.
This led to other parties — though sceptical of the OeVP’s proposal —
vaunting their commitment to protecting cash, with the centre-left Social
Democrats (SPOe) demanding an end to fees levied at cashpoints.
And it is not hard to see why all major parties see protecting cash as a
vote-winner.
“In Austria, attitudes change slowly,” an employee of Weinschenke, a
burger restaurant in downtown Vienna, told AFP.
The woman in her 30s, who only gave her name as Victoria, says she prefers
to use cash because “you don’t leave a trace”.
– Invasion of privacy –
Financial law expert Werner Doralt says Austrians put a high value on
privacy and are wary of anything that could be used to keep tabs on them,
such as card transactions.
“If for example I go shopping, and it’s recorded exactly how much schnapps
I’ve bought, that’s an invasion of my privacy,” he says.
A recent survey conducted by the ING bank in 13 European countries,
Australia and the US, showed Austrians were the most resistant to the idea of
giving up cash payments.
Just 10 percent of those surveyed in Austria said they could imagine doing
without cash, compared to a European average of 22 percent.
According to European Central Bank data compiled in 2017, cash accounted
for 67 percent of money spent at points of sale in Austria, compared to just
27 percent in the Netherlands.
Even in neighbouring Germany, another country known for its attachment to
cash, the rate is only 55 percent.
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Academic and author Erich Kirchler, a specialist in economic psychology,
says in Austria and Germany, citizens are aware of the dangers of an
overmighty state from their World War II experience.
“In that case the efficiency of state institutions becomes dangerous,”
Kirchler told AFP.
– ‘Lived freedom!’ –
It is a theory that finds a resounding echo in the slogan printed in bold
on the menu of one Vienna restaurant and bar, Caffe Latte: “Cash is lived
freedom!”
“When we have no more cash, we become totally exposed. A totalitarian
state would then have unfettered power over us,” the menu reads.
Admittedly the cafe accepts cards as its owner Philipp Klos says he has to
think about business too.
“In five years, there will be no more cash. I’m 100 percent sure,” he told
AFP, saying the OeVP proposal to amend the constitution is “empty talk”.
Other parties and experts have also pointed out that Austria would not
have the unilateral right to protect cash through constitutional changes
because it uses the euro, which is under the purview of the European Central
Bank.
Even 17 years after the euro came into circulation, some Austrians are
still finding notes and coins in their previous currency, the schilling, much
of it left in forgotten hiding places in homes.
The haul from under the nation’s mattresses, which until now could be
exchanged at the “Euro-Bus” of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB), which
toured the country, was almost 19 million schillings (1.38 million euros)
this year.
Unlike several other parts of the eurozone, Austrians still have an
unlimited period to exchange their schillings at the OeNB.
Austrian banks, too, are behind some of their counterparts elsewhere when
it comes to the ease with which clients can access debit or credit cards.
Following a recent EU directive, Austrian banks are phasing out “ATM
cards” and renaming them debit cards.
And some banks are currently planning to equip the new debit cards with
the ability to make payments online, as is common elsewhere.
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