Some small businesses have stopped taking payment in Euros. Is this a good idea?
Just five years ago, it was fashionable for celebrities, entertainers and many businesses to draft contracts that demanded payments in Euros. The thinking was that the euro was a far more stable currency than the dollar which was reeling from the height of the financial crisis. Only a fool would question the stability of the Euro. How things have changed!
The U.S. economy has serious underlying problems at the moment, but they pale in comparison to Europe’s problems. There are many analysts and economists that believe the Euro is seeing its last days. As a result, many U.S. small business have stopped accepting payment in euros. Some local businesses aren’t taking them from tourists while exporters are also ensuring that payment takes place in a currency other than the euro.
Are these businesses exaggerating? Taking a twenty-Euro note from a tourist in Manhattan is probably safe since you’ll exchange that for dollars quickly. But when things move to a longer-term horizon, like writing a five-year contract with payments stipulated in Euros, I would be far more cautious.
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Who is Mike Periu?
Mike Periu is the President of Proximo, LLC, a company that markets education and training programs to small business owners, entrepreneurs and consumers.
Mike Periu has been interviewed over 500 times for broadcasters including CNN, NBC TVE, RTE and others. Mike is a contributing author to OpenForum, Yahoo! Finanzas and the Huffington Post.
Mike graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. His degrees are in Finance and International Business. In addition to his work Mike is also on the Board of the Council for Economic Education.
