One of Australia’s most popular fast-food chains has gone cashless, sparking a nationwide debate.
Nandos’ card-only policy was in the spotlight on Thursday night after a picture of a sign displayed on an EFTPOS machine inside one of the restaurants went viral on Reddit.
The sign read: “We’re card only! Sorry, guess we’re part of the New World Order now. Just kidding, card payments mean we spend less time counting coins and more time perfecting your chicken.”
While Nandos has been cashless for a while, some customers were outraged by the revelation and said they would find elsewhere to spend their money.
“It’s really easy, just walk straight back out and find a good local business with a decent owner and staff who is open to all forms of remuneration,” one customer wrote.
Another said: “Maybe I’m a boomer-ish gen-z member, but it’s pretty ironic that legal tender is slowly becoming something only useful for buying non-legal items,” a third person commented.”
The move to card only was debated on The Project, with co-host and comedian Sam Taunton labelling the decision “scary”.
TV host Georgie Tunny claimed Nandos was trying to “put a spin” on it.
“People were angry who were trying to pay with cash and they were like ‘no, we’re doing it for your benefit’,” Tunny said.
However, others supported the move, with many saying they don’t use cash often.