NACS coffee shop in Carrickfergus moves to 'cash only' due to rising costs

NACS (Not Another Coffee Shop) told customers earlier this month that as of this week, it could no longer accept card payments.

Customers were given two weeks’ notice to prepare them for the change, which the owners said was due to the costs associated with card machine payments along with the rising price of utilities such as electricity.

Located on West Street in the town, NACS opened in 2021 and is operated by sisters-in-law, Leanne and Tracy Monaghan.

The café has also had to make other savings wherever it can, such as removing wi-fi from the premises.

“The wi-fi and card machine [alone] were £190 this month,” the owners said.

“We are trying to cut down on electric by holding off putting the heating on and turning it off as early in the day as we can.”

Wednesday (October 25) was the first day of the new ‘cash only’ arrangements for the business.

“The response has been very positive; we have had private messages wishing us well with it and [on Wednesday] we had four separate customers who made a point of coming in just because we went cash only,” the owners added.

Many customers also praised the move on the coffee shop’s Facebook page, with some suggesting that card machine fees could be ‘crippling’ for small businesses.

Processing fees vary between different providers, ranging from less than 2 percent to as much as 6 percent of the value of each transaction, according to NI Business Info.