EC card instead of pretzel tens

Created: 01/07/2022, 11:27 AM

Smaller amounts can also be paid cashlessly in the Nau bakery with saleswoman Bianca Jekel.

It's just the passage of time, you can't stop it.

Uli Drexler, Deputy Head Master of the Bruck Bakers' Guild © Metzler

Cashless payments have long been standard in most industries.

However, the bakeries are still a big exception in this country.

Especially in times of the Corona, many customers would prefer to pay the bill with the card.

District master craftsman Franz Höfelsauer considers card payments for daily purchases in the bakery to be simply unprofitable.

Given the already tightly calculated prices for the baked goods, this would result in additional bank costs for the baker.

These, in turn, could only be absorbed by an increased sales price.

Höfelsauer has also learned from experience that most customers, especially children, usually counted the money when they bought their rolls or pretzels.

A side effect of card payment is, according to the district master craftsman, that the citizen is becoming more and more transparent.

In the bakery of guild master Werner Nau in Fürstenfeldbruck, card payments are still possible.

However, the amount should not be less than five euros.

“We don't see it that closely at the moment.” But if the purchase was less than five euros, the customer would be asked whether a cash payment was not possible.

But Nau also says: "If card payments were to prevail in the future, we would have to transfer the booking fees, which are incurred even with smaller amounts, to the sales prices."

You can also pay cashless at Martin Reicherzer in Bruck.

"Not just with the card," says the bakery boss, who has his shop on Hauptstrasse and is a member of the board of the bakers' guild.

“Nowadays, customers also pay with their smartphones or their watch.” At first, it was only five percent of customers who did not pay in cash, but the number is increasing, according to Martin Reicherzer.

A lower limit for the invoice amount cannot be set for the customer, says the master baker.

“These people usually don't have any money with them.

In theory, you can pay two pretzels cashless. "

Regarding the fees that arise, Reicherzer says: “That is a matter of negotiation with the bank.” The Brucker sees advantages in cashless payment.

In this way, there would be no need for the time-consuming handling of the cash that is collected on a daily basis.

Once 30 percent cashless payment has been achieved, this type of payment would be profitable for the baker, says Reicherzer.

In Uli Drexler's Jesenwang bakery and its six branches, customers have been able to shop with the card since November 2019.

"At that time I introduced new cash registers and immediately included IC card payments," says the deputy head master of the Bruck bakers' guild.

"It's just the passage of time, you can't stop it."

Drexler also offers rechargeable customer cards with a QR code on it.

“Many of my customers pay with it, especially the craftsmen in the morning when they get their snack.

They don't always have change on hand. ”The QR code is the best way to make cashless purchases, says Drexler.

The customer card can also be given away with a credit on it.

"It goes without saying that you need the technology and internet connection."