Online blows for Hyatt over 'cashless' advertisement

Government-owned Hyatt Regency hotel had to delete a social media post and apologise after it announced that effective November 1, local currency was not going to be accepted as payment for services.

The post sparked a firestorm of criticism online even though it had been edited several times before it was taken down.

General manager Michael Hooper in an e-mailed response said the message regarding cashless payment options was “prematurely distributed with inaccurate information.”

He said the hotel would not be implementing any changes to its payment processes “at this time” and apologised for any confusion or inconvenience.

The offending original post said, “We’re going cashless! Effective November 1, 2024, all transactions at Hyatt Regency Trinidad will be mainly cash-free for a faster, smoother and more secure experience. We accept all major credit cards and only US dollars, British Pound Sterling, and Euro dollars, so you can focus on enjoying your stay!"

People commenting on the post called for a boycott of the hotel and other negative reactions as people questioned why other foreign currencies, such as US, UK and Euros, were accepted if transactions were to be cashless and the legality of a local establishment refusing to accept the currency of the country in which it operated.

The post was edited several times, adding debit cards to the list of accepted payments, removing the word “cashless” and deleting the last phrase.

The last iteration read, “Effective November 1, 2024, all transactions at Hyatt Regency Trinidad will be mainly cash-free for a faster, smoother, and more secure experience. We accept all major credit cards, debit cards and only US dollars, British Pound Sterling, and Euro dollars.”

Some comments said the hotel should just say it was not accepting TT dollars, that it should lose 90 per cent of its business because of the “stunt,” anyone doing business with Hyatt should only accept payments in US dollars, Euros and pounds, and it should just say locals were not wanted.

The post was then deleted around noon, about two hours after it was posted. Similar posts were also removed on X, formally Twitter, and on Instagram.

According to the Britannica website, “A cashless society is one in which cash, in the form of physical banknotes and coins, is not accepted in any financial transaction. Instead, people and businesses transfer money to one another digitally—via credit or debit cards, electronic money transfers, cryptocurrency, or online and mobile payment services such as PayPal and Apple Pay.”

A 2024 a survey by the TT International Financial Centre and the United Nations Capital Development Fund said about 25 per cent of TT’s adult population did not have access to a basic transaction account, and so did not have access to credit or debit cards.

In December 2021 at a virtual UN-TT Big Data Forum, John Outridge CEO of TT International Financial Centre said a 2020 survey done by the Development Bank of Latin America estimated there were 700,000 debit cards and 200,000 credit cards in use in TT.