Cash Transactions in Rome

At the time of writing, just a few days before 2012, Italy was still in the Euro. This means that you can use the same Euros you use anywhere else in the Eurozone but with the notable exception that you may find it hard to spend banknotes of €50 or above for small purchases, due to the large number of fake notes in circulation in Italy.  Also, be aware that, unlike other Eurozone countries, cashiers in Italy do not like giving coins as change, so, you should try to pay the exact amount in order to avoid having them round it up.  This strange custom stems from the low value of Italy's previous currency, the Lira, which meant it made sense to ignore a few zeros here and there and, so, the habit of short-changing customers became culturally acceptable.  Now, despite moving to a stronger currency, the habit endures and you should not waste your breath complaining about it unless they try to sting you for more than a Euro, just accept that prices are higher if you do not have exact change.

Despite the risks of paying in cash, it has advantages over paying by credit card. Card payments are not as common in Italy as in other European countries and, while it is okay to use them in larger supermarkets, you will get the distinct impression that restaurants and smaller shops would be much happier to receive cash (the tendency towards cash transactions goes quite some way to explaining why the Italian government seems to be unable to gather enough revenue to cover it’s outgoings).

If you do pay by card, try to keep your card in sight at all times - it only takes a few seconds for a waiter or shop assistant to run it through a tiny palm-held skimmer that copies your card, allowing the details to be sold on.  Sadly, Italy still has Europe’s most entrenched organised crime rings and this sort of crime is extremely profitable to them.

For all the above reasons, when traveling in Italy I keep one pocket full of coins, about €40 in my wallet along with my credit card, an ATM card in another pocket and an emergency €50 hidden in my jacket.  I rarely use my credit card except in larger stores and supermarkets, I use my ATM to withdraw €50 every couple of days and I keep the phone numbers I need to report the cards “Lost or Stolen” back in my hotel, along with my passport.  As you can probably tell, I’m a real ball of fun to vacation with.