A popular pizzeria in Pembroke is set to go cashless on December 1.

Fire & Slice, on Serpentine Road, will only accept credit and debit cards as payment after the end of this month.

Owner Henry Harris cited three reasons for his decision: safety, security and efficiency.

“The first two reasons are part of the same because if we don’t have cash, I will gladly give away a slice and a drink if you come to rob the place, if you are that desperate.

“I don’t need my frontline staff put at risk over very little money.

“Safety and security are definitely one less thing that I will have to be concerned about at night.”

Addressing the increased efficiency of a card-only approach, Mr Harris said: “When individuals pay cash, it takes longer to process because we have to give change and that slows down people getting out the door.

“On Friday and Saturday, we have got a line out the door if we have a lot of cash sales. People say ‘that doesn’t take up much time’, but when you have got 12 or 13 people in line, it does.”

Mr Harris said the reaction had been “mixed” since Fire & Slice began to spread the word about the new policy on its social-media channels about two months ago and a sign was placed on the pizzeria’s door at the beginning of November.

He said cards were responsible for 80 per cent of sales, with cash sales making up only one fifth of the total take.

Mr Harris said of the change: “Initially, we will lose business because there will be a learning curve and some people just might not have a card.

“I don’t want to turn people away but if we are going to see this through and stay on course on what we have decided on, we will just be as courteous as we can and maybe they’ll return with a card.”

Mr Harris said the world was increasingly becoming cashless.

He cited a visit to an outlet of Luckin Coffee, China’s largest such chain with 20,000 stores, where he discovered that not only could he not pay with cash, but he was required to download an app to buy a coffee.

Mr Harris said: “When I go out in Asia, all I have is a phone. Even a street vendor selling noodles has a QR code.”

He added: “As unsure as I was when we decided to do it, I find that Bermuda people are used to going places that don’t take cash.

“This is not an uncommon practice. The first month is going to be trying but this is for the long haul.”

Fire & Slice, which bills itself as the “home of the single slice”, opened in June 2021 on the former site of The Green Lantern, offering both traditional pizza combinations as well as classic food takes on New York-style thin crust pizza.

Chef Amr Tawfik, formerly of Mediterra at Fairmont Southampton, created the pizzeria’s inventive menu and continues to lead food preparation at Fire & Slice, where everything is made from scratch.

The pizzeria’s staff of 12 includes six Bermudians.

Mr Harris said business had been "phenomenal”.

“We’ve grown from pillar to post in regard to regular customers and in regard to the growth of Sargasso, a great partner of ours,” he added.