Part of: Coffeeshops and banking
The collapse of an infrastructure
When the value-transport company that specifically served coffeeshops fell away, an acute situation arose. Cash could no longer be transported securely from one day to the next. A coffeeshop that cannot process its cash effectively cannot continue operating. Only one value-transporter remained that could be called upon.
Daily ATM withdrawals are not a realistic alternative
The alternative — daily cash withdrawals up to the bank's set limit — forces operators to carry significant cash through the streets, with a real risk of armed robbery. The interim relief judge of the Midden-Nederland District Court (21 July 2021, ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2021:3990) held that this cannot be required as a reasonable business adjustment.
Forcing customers to pay cash: not workable
Requiring customers to pay cash is equally unrealistic. Card payment is — partly thanks to Covid — deeply embedded; fewer and fewer customers carry cash, and a working ATM nearby cannot be taken for granted. Moreover, returning to cash is undesirable from a transparency perspective: card payments produce a traceable transaction stream that aligns with the goals of the Wwft.
"De facto a disguised exclusion policy"
The ban on cash collections by a value-transport company, combined with a low withdrawal limit, was characterised by the same judge as "de facto a disguised exclusion policy": the operator had nowhere to turn, and switching to another bank proved to be no realistic option either.