Euro countdown - Business C&A told to withdraw credit card discount Even as consumers watch for hidden price rises following the introduction of the euro, a German court on Thursday ordered C&A clothing retailer to withdraw a 20 per cent discount for customers paying with a credit card rather than cash. |  Read Shopkeepers need more low-value euro notes Daniel Bernard, chairman of Carrefour, Europe's biggest retailer, had the air of a child in a toy shop as he toured the group's largest Paris hypermarket in the Bercy district, to see how customers and staff were adapting to the euro. |  Read Euro runs into trouble in Italy Italy was the one eurozone country reporting widespread problems with the introduction of euro notes and coins as long and sometimes angry queues formed at banks, post offices, railway stations and motorway tolls across the country. |  Read Demand for euros exceeds expectations European banks announced that they had experienced record demand for cash on January 1, as the public rushed to get their hands on new euro notes. |  Read Banks charging their domestic customers more Europe's banks have begun carrying out threats to charge domestic customers more for services, to compensate for the European Union's insistence that cross-border transactions be made cheaper. |  Read Fabius begs bank workers not to strike Laurent Fabius, the French finance minister, begged French bank workers not to go ahead with a planned strike on January 2. He urged them not to spoil the "historic changeover" from the franc to the euro. |  Read BP petrol stations to accept euro BP is to pilot the acceptance of euro notes and coins at British petrol stations in a move that will heighten concerns among eurosceptics over the currency's creeping influence. |  Read Large companies fear euro will harm profits Nearly half of Europe's large companies believe that the euro could harm their profits, according to a report. The survey of nearly 1,500 companies underlines how the single currency, being introduced as notes and coins in just over two weeks' time, might be a mixed blessing for the industrial sector. |  Read Shopkeepers in front line of euro battlefield Retailers big and small face most of the pressure - and the costs - of the big changeover |  Read 350,000 tonnes of coins heading for the crusher From next year and across the eurozone, 350,000 tons of legacy coins need to be rounded up, stored and ultimately melted down so their metal can be recycled. |  Read Banks climb down over euro transfer costs The European Union finally agreed rules to force banks to reduce the cost of cross-border transfers in euros from 2003 after defeating opposition from a number of member states led by Germany. |  Read SMEs gear up for euro Small and medium-sized companies, for long among the biggest headaches for planners of euro changeover day on January 1, appear at last to be stepping up preparations for the final disappearance of national currencies in the 12 nation eurozone. |  Read Vending machine and ATM makers face problems Spain's Azkoyen, one of the world's leading cigarette and vending machine producers, is already cashing in on next January's launch of euro notes and coins. |  Read German retailers attack plans Germany's retailers and consumer protection agencies rounded on the government for failing to overcome deep scepticism about the introduction of euro notes and coins next January. |  Read