Visa/Mastercard cards not accepted in most public services

Registries in Portugal (such as the Conservatória do Registo Civil, Conservatória do Registo Predial, etc.) accept card payments — but get this:

• No Visa or Mastercard cards are accepted. That means no foreign cards are accepted at all.

• Even if you have a card from Portugal’s SIBS network, you won’t be able to use the MB Way app by scanning a QR code because their card readers have this feature disabled.

It only works with physical SIBS cards — just like in the 1990s!

Now imagine the following scenario:
At 3:00 PM on a Friday, you go to a Conservatória do Registo Predial for a property deed and are asked to pay some fees or taxes. You try to pay with a foreign card — it fails. Since the amount you have to pay exceeds your daily ATM withdrawal limit, you can’t take out enough cash. You can't even go to a bank because they’re already closed. Your plans for the week are ruined.

Why does this still happen in the third decade of the 21st century?