ROME. The government seeks revenge on the Pos. Giorgia Meloni wants it, who, after having given in to Europe on the obligations of digital payment, had promised an intervention on bank commissions. But, more generally, the whole center-right hopes for it, still burned by the most striking reversal of recent months.
On input from the prime minister, work has already started at the Ministry of Economy to give cover to small traders and taxi drivers, perhaps the category that most bet on Meloni’s help and hoped to bring the threshold that imposes to 60 euros operator the obligation to accept payment with the Pos. Yesterday there was a preliminary and informal discussion between the Treasury and operators in the sector, from banks to companies that manage the circuits and those that provide machine services. The original idea of setting up a table has been put on hold due to the difficulties of seating together competitors such as Visa and Mastercard and others, which have completely different market approaches and strategies.
However, the government has a proposal ready to formulate. The objective has already been generically set in the manoeuvre, where the possibility of supporting activities with a turnover of up to 400 thousand euros is envisaged, in the belief that large-scale distribution is able to reduce costs simply through higher turnover. The executive’s attempt is to eliminate commissions for expenses up to 15 euros, and to obtain a reduction for those between 15 and 30 euros. These figures are modeled on the various offers with which companies have tried in recent years to hook the customers of small merchants and to overcome the traditional reluctance of Italian merchants to betray their love of cash. Now, however, the government has set itself the goal of finding a single measure, a ceiling that is valid for everyone. Not being able, due to the Antitrust rules, to intervene directly, he has to seek a market agreement between the companies. Therefore, in the form of an agreement between private individuals. Which would not turn out to be so simple. Also because the negotiation is on three levels: with the association of banks, Abi, with the very contentious circuit managers, and with those who hold the rights to the terminals, mainly Nexi. Of course, the extreme hypothesis of an extraordinary taxation remains, but as a Treasury source explains, at the moment the government does not want to take it into consideration. He rather hopes for a work of persuasion, offering some advantage in exchange. Like a massive advertising campaign in favor of cashless payments, which pushes even the most reluctant Italian consumers to finally give in to ATMs and credit cards.
The champions of cash on the right are getting over it. The memories of the lost battle are still fresh: after letting her undersecretary Giovanbattista Fazzolari go wild against Bankitalia, accusing it of encouraging speculation by individual credit institutions, Prime Minister Meloni had to capitulate when Europe explained to her that raising at 60 euros, the obligation for merchants to accept payments via Pos would have compromised the fight against evasion envisaged as an objective of the Pnrr. The echo of the taxi drivers’ screams thus prompted her first to seek if there was a way to reduce the commissions by law, then, when it was clear to her that the measure would certainly have been rejected as unconstitutional, she aimed for a third way . The only one that was possible from the beginning: relying on the good heart of the market.