Freelancers are getting used to cards

The first indications of mass compliance by freelance workers with the obligation to accept payments by card are already evident in data from the first month of the year, as, according to banks, one in four requests for the installation of card terminals is coming from professionals such as doctors, lawyers, accountants etc.

This trend is expected to peak in the coming months as, within the next few days, the Finance Ministry is expected to issue its decision on which professions will be in the first batch of sectors that will have to accept card payments by June 2017.

Sources say that those sectors will be catering (restaurants, cafes, bars etc), repairs, education, apparel, rentals, hairdressers, gyms, law-related activities, medical services, telecommunications, energy and games of chance. By the end of June, all of them will likely be obliged to offer facilities for...