# Cash only in the Vatican? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 13, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087 "2013-01-13T19:49:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/1 "2013-01-13T19:49:32Z")
What kind of potential money laundering is going on in the Vatican? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/2 "2013-01-13T20:03:35Z")
Context, please? Is this “cash only” thing something known to you (in which case, please supply the source of this knowledge), or only speculation? And if there is money laundering, either it’s not done very well, or we don’t know about it. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/3 "2013-01-13T20:07:45Z")
It’s okay, they’ve also got an ATM [File:Vatican ATM in Latin.jpg - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vatican_latin_atm.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/4 "2013-01-13T20:11:29Z")
The OP would be referring to a recent snafu regarding electronic payment services in the Vatican because they haven’t complied with EU safeguards. It will undoubtedly be resolved, if it hasn’t been already: [http://www.themorningsun.com/article/20130104/NEWS05/130109861/-145-cash-only-146-now-for-vatican-tourists](http://www.themorningsun.com/article/20130104/NEWS05/130109861/-145-cash-only-146-now-for-vatican-tourists) ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/5 "2013-01-13T20:18:50Z")
OK, according to more recent news articles as of Jan 13, Bank Italia is still refusing electronic payment services to the Vatican. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/6 "2013-01-13T20:24:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Context, please? Is this “cash only” thing something known to you (in which case, please supply the source of this knowledge), or only speculation? And if there is money laundering, either it’s not done very well, or we don’t know about it. Sorry. I meant to paste the online article that **yabob** posted to my post, but neglected to. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/7 "2013-01-14T05:18:13Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > OK, according to more recent news articles as of Jan 13, Bank Italia is still refusing electronic payment services to the Vatican. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/8 "2013-01-14T05:30:51Z")
[moderating] I don’t see a GQ here, so I’ve moved the thread from General Questions to IMHO. Carry on. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/9 "2013-01-14T15:09:28Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:8, topic:647087”] [moderating] I don’t see a GQ here, so I’ve moved the thread from General Questions to IMHO. Carry on. [/moderating] [/QUOTE] The specific question is presumably “Which banking rules are the Vatican not following that resulted in getting their Italian electronic payment services cut off?” It was just asked in a very cryptic manner. The boring answer is that there’s an international organization called the [Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financial_Action_Task_Force) (founded by the G7 nations) that came up with guidelines for anti-money laundering policies that many nations have used to build their own AML policies. The Vatican, whether due to budget constraints or a lack of banking knowledge or good old-fashioned laziness, [“has no banking regulatory framework or EU-recognized alternative for anti-money-laundering purposes”](http://www.timescolonist.com/life/travel/vatican-surprised-by-bank-of-italy-nix-on-credit-card-payments-tourist-ticketing-affected-1.46799). So presumably the Italian banking regulators were putting pressure on the Italian bank to get their AML submissions into compliance (having a lot of business in a nation with no AML policies is a bad thing) and now the Italian bank is putting pressure on the Vatican to get the Italian regulators off their back. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/10 "2013-01-14T15:17:11Z")
It’s more likely that the Vatican does not want to open their books to the Italian banking regulators than there is any non catholic money laundering being done. There are many reasons the Vatican is its own country and they are historically more comfortable with secrecy than transparency. We’ll see if they want electronic payments enough to change. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/11 "2013-01-14T15:28:24Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > It’s more likely that the Vatican does not want to open their books to the Italian banking regulators than there is any non catholic money laundering being done. There are many reasons the Vatican is its own country and they are historically more comfortable with secrecy than transparency. > > We’ll see if they want electronic payments enough to change. When in doubt, I usually assume incompetence over anything more sinister. [Here’s an article about the firing of the guy formerly in charge of the Vatican’s AML program.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/10/vatican-lawyer-accused-negligence-tedeschi) (Warning: it’s from the Guardian.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/12 "2013-01-14T16:22:29Z")
I don’t think Vatican coins (they use Euros) have “In God We Trust” on them. > **[Vatican euro coins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_euro_coins)** > > Vatican euro coins are issued by the Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City State and minted by Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (IPZS), in Rome, Italy. The euro is the official currency of the Vatican City, although Vatican City is not a member of the Eurozone or the European Union. The euro has been the official currency of Vatican City since 2002. Before that, the Vatican lira was the official currency. > For images of the common side and a detailed description of the co... ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/13 "2013-01-14T17:18:08Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > It’s more likely that the Vatican does not want to open their books to the Italian banking regulators than there is any non catholic money laundering being done. There are many reasons the Vatican is its own country and they are historically more comfortable with secrecy than transparency. > > We’ll see if they want electronic payments enough to change. They almost certainly do - tourism is very important to them, and inconveniencing tourists in the Vatican souvenir shops may eventually affect their bottom line. I would guess that some accommodation will be reached in the near future. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cash-only-in-the-vatican/647087/14 "2013-01-14T18:07:12Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I don’t think Vatican coins (they use Euros) have “In God We Trust” on them. > [Vatican euro coins - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_euro_coins) Are those coins actually given out as change in Vatican shops, or just sold in collector’s sets?