Why So Many Mérida Shops Still Say 'Cash Only'

At a small shop on Calle 65 in downtown Mérida, a handwritten sign leaves no room for negotiation: “Solo pago en efectivo” — cash only. A few blocks away on Calle 62, a restaurant posts the same notice for diners.

These signs repeat across corner stores and family-run businesses throughout Mérida’s neighborhoods, even amid national and local initiatives that promote digital — and traceable — payments.

Luis Enrique Contreras Ramírez, president of the Cámara de Comercio, Servicios y Turismo en Pequeño (Canacope Servytur) in Mérida, says small businesses are gradually digitizing how they collect payments, but cash remains the dominant method. Many merchants simply aren’t familiar with digital tools, or resist adopting them, he says. Canacope Servytur runs a digitization program to help business owners make the switch.

The pattern isn’t unique to Yucatán. A national study released in August by México Evalúa, a Mexico City-based public policy think tank, found that nine in 10 people and businesses in Mexico still conduct most of their transactions with bills and coins.

The report, “Digitalizar para crecer: El reto de transformar los pagos en México,” found that Mexico already has the infrastructure for wider digital adoption — 76.5% of adults hold some kind of financial product — but actual usage lags far behind access. Only 21% regularly use debit or credit cards, and just 9% use electronic transfers.

Smartphone access isn’t the barrier, either. In 2025, 86.1% of Mexicans age six and older used the internet, and 97.3% of those users connected through a smartphone, the study found. Yet only 32.9% used digital banking services.

A Push from the President

The push toward a cashless economy is also coming from the top. President Claudia Sheinbaum has said she wants digital payment mandatory at gas stations and highway toll booths nationwide by the end of 2026, phasing out cash at both. Her administration reached a deal with Mexico’s banking association to lower card-processing fees so the switch doesn’t raise costs for drivers. Some toll booths operated by the federal highway agency Capufe have already limited cash lanes in favor of electronic tags, and gas stations are expected to follow as the new fee agreements take hold.

Cash carries hidden costs for merchants, too, according to México Evalúa — security, transport and storage expenses that rarely show up on a balance sheet. In 2023, crime and insecurity cost Mexican businesses roughly 124.3 billion pesos (about US$6.7 billion) nationally, and nearly 20% of companies reported they stopped handling cash altogether because of security concerns.

The shift toward digital payments also isn’t reaching everyone equally. More than half of digital payment users — 53% — belong to the highest income bracket, the study found. Access to financial products splits along gender lines, too: 73% of women hold a financial product, compared with 81% of men.

Small businesses aren’t simply resistant to technology, the report argues. Costs, fraud risk, operational friction and the assumption that customers don’t want digital options all discourage adoption.

México Evalúa recommends a coordinated national strategy — with clear roles for federal, state and municipal governments, financial institutions and the private sector — rather than piecemeal fixes. Before restricting cash use, the group says, policymakers need to expand real access to bank accounts, connectivity and digital skills, particularly in rural areas and among older adults and lower-income residents.

The findings arrive as Yucatán’s growing economy continues to draw new investment to Mérida, even as small merchants weigh the practical costs of modernizing decades-old payment habits — and as the federal government moves toward eliminating cash from parts of daily life entirely.

Fast Facts

Study: “Digitalizar para crecer: El reto de transformar los pagos en México,” released in August by México Evalúa
9 in 10 Mexicans still use cash for most transactions
76.5% of Mexican adults have a financial product; only 21% regularly use cards, 9% use transfers
Cash-related crime cost Mexican businesses about 124.3 billion pesos (US$6.7 billion) in 2023
President Claudia Sheinbaum wants digital-only payment mandatory at gas stations and highway toll booths by the end of 2026
Canacope Servytur Mérida runs a digitization program for small local merchants

With reporting from Diario de Yucatán, with additional data from México Evalúa, Xataka México and Bloomberg Línea

5. Facebook Teaser

Plenty of small shops in Mérida still don’t take cards. A new national study — and a federal push to go cashless at gas stations and toll booths — looks at why.

Source links (internal reference only, not for publication):

Original story: https://www.yucatan.com.mx/merida/2026/09/18/pagos-digitales-merida-comercios-efectivo-obstaculos-costos-fraude-miedo.html
External link used: https://www.xataka.com.mx/banca-digital/pagar-digitalmente-cuesta-ahorra-tiempo-personas-van-a-preferir-propuesta-mexico-deje-efectivo
Internal link used: https://yucatandailynews.com/building-in-merida/
National cashless gas/toll context: https://www.bloomberglinea.com/latinoamerica/mexico/sheinbaum-anuncia-baja-en-comisiones-y-fija-fecha-para-pagos-digitales-en-gasolineras/ and https://www.unotv.com/negocios/cuando-sera-obligatorio-el-pago-digital-en-gasolineras-y-casetas-en-mexico/