Same in the US. I virtually never use cash. The only real problem I run into is the occasional "open bar"--drinks are free but there's still an etiquette that you should leave a tip which generally means cash.
Is there a "tip with venmo" poster displayed or do you have to ask the bartender their venmo account name? I've never seen this before, but agreed that it's rare.
They are required for the CC transaction, this adds an additional player that should not be necessary. In civilized countries they have direct bank to bank transfers.
> In civilized countries they have direct bank to bank transfers
I'm sure whatever country you're from (or otherwise alluding to) is a fine place, no need for the transparent insecurity. :) Narrowly, I agree that secure (and fee-less) bank-to-bank transfers would be preferable to CC.
> They are required for the CC transaction, this adds an additional player that should not be necessary.
We're positing a situation where CC's aren't available, so it's not an additional player but rather a different player.
If I understand you correctly, we have those here in the States as well, but the problem is you're not using your CC in the first place (in the "open bar" scenario) so you never actually use the terminals.
In my experience on such rare few occasions I was able to tip with Venmo.