Overview
- Event organiser Essen Marketing GmbH confirmed every stall at the city’s 2025 market must accept card payments and said compliance is being checked.
- Vendors are adapting by buying terminals, and one stand added self-order screens that take card payments, though most stalls still take cash as well.
- Stallholders report teething problems, notably that glass deposit refunds (pfand) and tips often still require cash because payments cannot easily be reversed to cards.
- Nationwide adoption remains uneven, with many markets still cash-first even as rising prices and a viral Reddit complaint about a €150 purchase reignited public frustration.
- Some local improvements are noted in Kassel and Bonn, while Switzerland’s Polarzauber briefly banned cash at its Zurich station market before reversing the move.