Pay the small place in cash
Card fees take two to three per cent from a business whose margin may be five. Cash is a quiet discount you can choose to give.
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Why it lands
On a four-pound coffee the processing fee is small; across a year on a tight margin it is a meaningful share of the profit. Most customers have never thought about it, and no small trader is going to raise it because asking looks like pleading. Choosing cash for the independent shop and card for the chain is a costless preference that moves real money to the people who need it.
How
Carry a bit of cash for the places you use weekly. Have it ready, and do not make a speech about it — announcing that you are paying cash to help them turns a quiet kindness into a performance they have to respond to.
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