Cash-free coffee: Ricoh Pandemic Pivot

One Christchurch café is putting the “e” in coffee, making a post Covid-19 decision to use only electronic payment. Allpress Espresso has made the call to accept no notes or coins at its Montreal Street café.

Roastery and café manager James Nightingale says the cashless system has been largely well received, with staff and customers feeling safer about hygiene.

The café was also broken into in mid-2020, so Nightingale hoped having no cash on site would provided added security, too.

There is no legal requirement for a business to give out or accept cash, except if it is payment for a debt.

The café just one of a small – but growing – number of businesses going cashless in New Zealand, where less than two percent of New Zealand’s money is held in notes and coins.

According to Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford, a pre-Covid-19 survey revealed a very small number of businesses keen to be cashless, but the same survey post-pandemic saw a large shift.