Can a shop or restaurant in France refuse payment by bank card?

That was the question posed recently to the French government by a member of the French Assembly.

The question was made in response to news that an increasing number of shops and restaurants in France are displaying signs in their window that payment by a bank card would not be accepted under a certain amount.

In response, the Minister of Finance Christian Lagarde stated that shops, bars and restaurants are at liberty to refuse settlement by card where the sum was only a 'small amount'.

However, in all cases they were required to clearly display this rule in their establishment, failing which settlement by card of whatever amount was proper tender.

The Minister did not elaborate on what she considered to be a ‘small amount’.

Unfortunately, the law is actually silent on this point, except to say that the amount should be ‘reasonable’ and should not be so low that it seeks to prevent settlement of normal purchases by the use of a card.

In practice, therefore, you will find that shops, bars and restaurants set their own rate, which is often around €15, although it is possible to be lower.

Indeed, in our experience the vast majority of establishments set no minimum settlement figure by card, despite the cost they are charged by the card company for processing the transaction.

Nevertheless, given the processing charge imposed by some credit card companies you may well find that not all cards are accepted.

Indeed, some establishments do not accept use of a card at all, as they do not possess any electronic means of authorisation of the card.

By other regulations, French law states that the maximum amount that can paid for a bill to be settled in in cash is €3000.