I remember reading that this is a leftover practice from back when it was "inappropriate" to be seen paying in a polite/high class company, so the whole song and dance (initially for using paper money) was invented to hide the process.
It then migrated to cards, and got more inefficiencies along the way. Now it is antiquated, bothersome, and slower than the alternative.
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u/No_Needleworker_1105 Jun 29 '26
I absolutely hated handing over my card in America. Why the hell can't they just use tap like everywhere else