Depending on the industry sector, cash can effectively be several times more expensive to handle than the US market interchange fees. I don’t think it’s obviously horrible for merchants.
Independent retailers, restaurants, etc are put in an awkward position where not accepting credit cards can cost them business, but accepting them forces raising prices which can also cost them business.
Canada has an interesting option in the form of our Interac system for debit, which has more favourable fees especially for small purchases. Since every Canadian with a bank account has an Interac card, one common option for indies is to accept only cash and debit.
Except I hate using my Interac card for... well, anything... because if it gets compromised, it's my own chequing account that gets locked with the missing money.
The EU caps it at 0.3%, and the banks still manage to stay in business.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180130005244/en/New...
>New Research from IHL Group Shows Retailers’ Cash-handling Costs Range from 4.7% to 15.3%, Depending on Retail Segment
Loss from theft is a huge deal as well, there was a coffee shop in Baltimore that went cash-free because they were getting robbed so much.
https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2017/02/02/cashless-coffee-sh...