It's Cash Only Now For Tourists At The Vatican

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news.yahoo.com/cash-only-now-tourists-vatican-152529088.html

VATICAN CITY (AP) — It’s “cash only” now for tourists at the Vatican wanting to pay for museum tickets, souvenirs and other services after Italy’s central bank decided to block electronic payments, including credit cards, at the tiny city-state.

Sorry about my previous attempt to post this story. Not sure what happened 😊
 
Why did the bank block payments?

-Never mind, missed it the first time.

Hmm… I guess I understand why they did it.
 
And yet again, they use the “stupid American” quote:
“A lot of tourists don’t have cash on them, so they have to get euros and don’t know where to get them,” said Fluger William Hunter, an American tourist.
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Really? People go to a foreign country with NO cash and don’t find out how to get any? Sheesh. It’s hardly rocket science. Are they really using credit cards for every gelato they buy? (and going to Rome without getting any gelato should be a crime!)

Actually, I would be more worried about an increase in pickpockets, people know that everyone in line is going to have cash.

It’s a shame that this is happening, and it’s certainly inconvenient (although not that much if you know ahead of time), but “people don’t know where to get euros?”

:banghead:

–Jen
 
This is funny, instead of changing the disastrous culture of the banks in Italy the Bank of Italy is picky about the operations of a German bank at the Vatican.:rolleyes:
 
Cristiano said:
This is funny, instead of changing the disastrous culture of the banks in Italy the Bank of Italy is picky about the operations of a German bank at the Vatican.:rolleyes:
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Unfortunately, some very shady dealings occurred recently with the Vatican bank. Even in that article it states they’ve failed a recent audit. Banks need to recognize international banking protocols and anti-money laundering regulations.
 
revert_jen said:
And yet again, they use the “stupid American” quote:

Really? People go to a foreign country with NO cash and don’t find out how to get any? Sheesh. It’s hardly rocket science. Are they really using credit cards for every gelato they buy? (and going to Rome without getting any gelato should be a crime!)

Actually, I would be more worried about an increase in pickpockets, people know that everyone in line is going to have cash.

It’s a shame that this is happening, and it’s certainly inconvenient (although not that much if you know ahead of time), but “people don’t know where to get euros?”

:banghead:

–Jen
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I agree, it was my experience (in Europe) that you paid for cash for almost everything, except the most expensive purchases. Paying with credit/debit for anything close to 10 Euros was highly frowned upon. In Germany there were also ATMs almost everywhere there were a lot of tourists or just in the city center, I am pretty sure if you are using your card in stores they work just fine in an ATM. There are also exchange points in airports (usually highly advertised). I am pretty sure American tourists didn’t get to Italy by driving. :rolleyes:
 
InigoMontoya said:
Unfortunately, some very shady dealings occurred recently with the Vatican bank. Even in that article it states they’ve failed a recent audit. Banks need to recognize international banking protocols and anti-money laundering regulations.
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Which recent very shady dealings? Please give an accurate reference before spreading rumors. Do you know of any results from the investigation of the overzealous Italian investigators that froze the 23 million euros of the IOR?
 
It may be an inconvenience for tourists to carry cash but in the long run, they will be better off. Generally speaking a better rate of exchange is given at a bank than through the credit card companies. Not taking credit cards will help merchants as well since they won’t have to pay processing fees associated with the use of credit cards.
 
GCTSgrad said:
It may be an inconvenience for tourists to carry cash but in the long run, they will be better off. Generally speaking a better rate of exchange is given at a bank than through the credit card companies. Not taking credit cards will help merchants as well since they won’t have to pay processing fees associated with the use of credit cards.
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In the form of traveller’s or cashier’s checks?
 
In order to support the turism at Vatican City and to simplify the monetary issues I decided to do the following: any memeber of CAF that is planning to go to Rome can PM me with their name, phone number, billing address and credit card number. They also should tell me how much cash they need to have available while in Rome. Once they reach Rome my brother in law will be there waiting for them with the cash in any denomination that is desired. Because of Italian regulations I also need the turist social security number, banking information is also critical to prove financial transparancy and so a account number and routing number must be provided before departing the USA. If you have any concerns about the security of this process you can contact my international branch in Nigeria. :D:D:D:D

Disclaimer: not all fraudulent schemes are as obvious as this one. :D:D
 
Cristiano said:
In order to support the turism at Vatican City and to simplify the monetary issues I decided to do the following: any memeber of CAF that is planning to go to Rome can PM me with their name, phone number, billing address and credit card number. They also should tell me how much cash they need to have available while in Rome. Once they reach Rome my brother in law will be there waiting for them with the cash in any denomination that is desired. Because of Italian regulations I also need the turist social security number, banking information is also critical to prove financial transparancy and so a account number and routing number must be provided before departing the USA. If you have any concerns about the security of this process you can contact my international branch in Nigeria. :D:D:D:D

Disclaimer: not all fraudulent schemes are as obvious as this one. :D:D
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Maybe we could just make it simpler and post all of that information here on the thread. :rotfl:

Back to GCTSgrad’s point: I agree. I’ve found that even with fees, it is cheaper to get money from an ATM in a foreign country than to charge something. Aside from anything else, you don’t need as many ATM transactions. (Of course if you’re buying something really big, e.g. more than $300, it may be cheaper to charge it. But for smaller things, like admission to a museum, one ATM transaction can cover a lot of smaller purchases.) But of course you do need to be smart about where you keep your money, because there are pickpockets. And you do need to check with your bank to make sure your card will work in ATMs in the country you are going to.

And another word of warning: Do NOT carry your passport around with you. If it gets stolen, it is a lot more inconvenient than the loss of money.

–Jen
 
revert_jen said:
Maybe we could just make it simpler and post all of that information here on the thread. :rotfl:

Back to GCTSgrad’s point: I agree. I’ve found that even with fees, it is cheaper to get money from an ATM in a foreign country than to charge something. Aside from anything else, you don’t need as many ATM transactions. (Of course if you’re buying something really big, e.g. more than $300, it may be cheaper to charge it. But for smaller things, like admission to a museum, one ATM transaction can cover a lot of smaller purchases.) But of course you do need to be smart about where you keep your money, because there are pickpockets. And you do need to check with your bank to make sure your card will work in ATMs in the country you are going to.

And another word of warning: Do NOT carry your passport around with you. If it gets stolen, it is a lot more inconvenient than the loss of money.

–Jen
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Or you follow Rick Steves’ advice and wear a money belt. Then you make sure your important papers like your passport are in there and thus will not get pulled off you or stolen from your bag.
 
Money laundering? When there is no … money?

Is the Vatican giving thousands of dollars of change back on those ATM museum ticket purchases? :nope:

Sounds fishy to me. Like the Italian National Bank is trying to get over on the Vatican somehow. It doesn’t have to make sense, really. A Catholic hater in the right spot could create the controversy … and suddenly the Vatican is media-linked worldwide with “money laundering”. Mission accomplished! :mad:

Easy fix 1: Let people swipe their cards on an electronic device connected by radio waves or something to a twin machine in Switzerland. Make deposits there and let the Swiss Bank that has all the required safety features be accessible on the incoming side.

Easy fix 2: Let people in for free. Pass the basket like in Church. Or let people in for a pledge.

Don’t have tables with “moneychangers” without designating a monitor – carrying a “whip made of cords”.

 
CaptFun said:
Sounds fishy to me. Like the Italian National Bank is trying to get over on the Vatican somehow. It doesn’t have to make sense, really. A Catholic hater in the right spot could create the controversy … and suddenly the Vatican is media-linked worldwide with “money laundering”. Mission accomplished! :mad:
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Nah, it all makes sense unfortunately.
  1. Italian investigations into laundering of Mafia money identify transfers going through the Vatican Bank. spiegel.de/international/europe/a-growing-vatican-bank-scandal-threatens-catholic-church-image-a-842140-2.html
  2. Italian authorities ask Vatican to implement anti-laundering measures, i.e. transparency. Vatican does not do so.
  3. Italian central bank forbids Italian banks from doing business with Vatican.
  4. Since credit card transactions involve a transaction between a buyer’s bank and merchant’s bank, and Italian banks are no longer allowed to offer merchant services to Vatican, credit cards can no longer be processed. blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-credit-card-processing-and-money-laundering-rules-in-the-vatican/
 
kelner said:
Nah, it all makes sense unfortunately.
  1. Italian investigations into laundering of Mafia money identify transfers going through the Vatican Bank. spiegel.de/international/europe/a-growing-vatican-bank-scandal-threatens-catholic-church-image-a-842140-2.html
  2. Italian authorities ask Vatican to implement anti-laundering measures, i.e. transparency. Vatican does not do so.
  3. Italian central bank forbids Italian banks from doing business with Vatican.
  4. Since credit card transactions involve a transaction between a buyer’s bank and merchant’s bank, and Italian banks are no longer allowed to offer merchant services to Vatican, credit cards can no longer be processed. blog.unibulmerchantservices.com/on-credit-card-processing-and-money-laundering-rules-in-the-vatican/
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Your saying all credit card transactions are going through the Vatican Bank?
Why not just prohibit the Vatican Bank from participation
If a German Bank is currently handling the tranction what does. this has to do with credit cards?
Having been there the only way to guarantee entry to Vatican Museum is through local tour group. Usually booked through a large touring company.
the line extends forever and there is an early cutoff
There are actually two lines
An individual walking over to buys ticket has little chance of getting in.
Not sure how tour groups pay but in our case Globus offers the Vatican tour.
 
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