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Would you shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash?

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pipeguy
Senior Contributor

Re: Would you shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash?

While there may not be a specific federal law stating that a merchant can refuse to take cash for a transaction (I'd have to research that in US Code) the issue I'm looking at is Visa is PAYING merchants to outlaw the use of cash within their establishments as a way to enrich their company with swipe fees. Not only is this a case the ACLU would love to fund raise on (discrimination) but it reeks of anti-trust and unfair trade practices.

 

Again I fully understand online purchases need to be paid by non-cash which is proven by the sucess of paypal, etc. but to "force" credit card usage by the public a credit card network that seeks to gain from their forced policy..... 

Message 11 of 37
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Would you shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash?


@pipeguy wrote:

While there may not be a specific federal law stating that a merchant can refuse to take cash for a transaction (I'd have to research that in US Code) the issue I'm looking at is Visa is PAYING merchants to outlaw the use of cash within their establishments as a way to enrich their company with swipe fees. Not only is this a case the ACLU would love to fund raise on (discrimination) but it reeks of anti-trust and unfair trade practices.

 

Again I fully understand online purchases need to be paid by non-cash which is proven by the sucess of paypal, etc. but to "force" credit card usage by the public a credit card network that seeks to gain from their forced policy..... 


Yeah I don't think they should be able to pay merchants to not accept cash.

 

Sounds like issues with net neutrality

Message 12 of 37
SOGGIE
Valued Contributor

Re: Would you shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash?

Q: Would I shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash?
A: Probably so

Life was a lot simpler when what we honored was father and mother, rather than all major credit cards. ~Robert Orben
Message 13 of 37
SOGGIE
Valued Contributor

Re: Would you shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash?

@BrutalBodyShots: That is absurd to pass on the fees for tipped CC transactions to the employee that's being tipped.

Life was a lot simpler when what we honored was father and mother, rather than all major credit cards. ~Robert Orben
Message 14 of 37
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Would you shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash?

It's all part of 'their' plan to convert us to a cashless society. It's much easier to control, monitor, and manipulate someone when you can track every purchase they make (and every source of income), and where they make it, as well as having the ability to completely disable someone with the push of a button by cutting off their accounts. 

 

Next comes the mandatory microchip. And of course it's always for our own good, our own convenience, and our own safety. They'll make you do things, then make you think it was your idea! Smiley Wink .....or I could just be a kook.

 

And no, I would not shop somewhere that doesn't accept cash. Even if I wasn't planning to use cash. It's simply un-American. 

Message 15 of 37
Revelate
Moderator Emeritus

Re: Would you shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash?

I heard this debated on NPR on my way into work a few days ago and nearly called in (Airtalk on KPCC I think it was).

 

The problem with this is the banking industry isn't setup this way; at least on a study I saw on this by the FDIC in 2015 7% of the population was flatly unbanked, and 19.9% were underbanked... though according to their definition that includes a checking or savings account and if you can get one of those, you can get a debit or prepaid card.

 

The 7% that doesn't have it though, you can't just walk into any bank and get a checking account these days if things like your Chexsystems is out of whack; it may not be possible for these to even get most prepaid cards as a result.

 

There'd have to be some institution that you could deposit cash at and get a prepaid card without any reservations, accessible to anyone and everyone with a pulse, and that is not the modern bank though I suppose they could be encouraged to do that.

 

It's a massive undertaking to try to address this, we may get to mostly cashless in what I'd liberally call somewhat affluent America (the ones regularly eating at restaurants that Visa is targetting... you absolutely don't have to eat at restaurants and it is generally more expensive in dollar value therefore it is a luxury looked at in this manner) but what I don't want to see is a stratification of American economy based on whether you can get a prepaid card or not, and if refused service because you cannot pay in the manner expected which is going to disproportionally hit a specific population group of the American consumer base unless I very much miss my guess, and that is going to get the ACLU among others up in arms and I'd be supporting them with absolutely no reservations on this one.

 

To answer the question though, I probably wouldn't even notice if a store didn't take cash whereas I do notice if it doesn't take credit cards.... as soon as I got my first credit card (10/2011) I've paid anything and everything I could with a credit card.




        
Message 16 of 37
sjt
Senior Contributor

Re: Would you shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash?

Need to also consider Debit/ATM transactions.

American Express: Platinum Charge, Optima, Business Gold, Delta Business Reserve, Business Cash, Business Plus
Barclays: Arrival+ WEMC
Capital One: Savor WEMC, Venture X Visa Infinite
Chase: Freedom U Visa Signature, CSR Visa Infinite
Citibank: AAdvantage Platinum WEMC
Elan/US Bank: Fidelity Visa Signature
Credit Union: Cash Back Visa Signature
FICO 08: Score decrease between 26-41 points after auto payoff (11.01.21) FICO as of 5.23, EX: 812 / EQ: 825 / TU: 815
Message 17 of 37
DaveInAZ
Senior Contributor

Re: Would you shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash?

With banks closing branches as fast as they can I can see this happening more and more. In my small town an hour east of Tucson the only bank closed 2 years ago. Family Dollar uses an armored truck service for cash deposits and change orders. Local merchants have to drive 45 minutes to get to bank.
Message 18 of 37
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Would you shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash?

With every one using direct deposit. on line banking and credit/debit cards there is a very rare need for people to go to the bank.  With retail stores they usually use armored car for cash shipments if the store is very large.  With our biz 80% of our deposits are by ach or wire and the small payments by check.  We use on line deposit for that 20%.  Our biz bank  is about 100 miles away.   We keep a very small balance with a bank next door to the office and rarely use them due to their rules.     

Message 19 of 37
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Would you shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash?


@Anonymous wrote:

With every one using direct deposit. on line banking and credit/debit cards there is a very rare need for people to go to the bank.  With retail stores they usually use armored car for cash shipments if the store is very large.  With our biz 80% of our deposits are by ach or wire and the small payments by check.  We use on line deposit for that 20%.  Our biz bank  is about 100 miles away.   We keep a very small balance with a bank next door to the office and rarely use them due to their rules.     


The last time I visited my local BoA branch in person was last month, to get fixed a problem at a local store where my debit card's chip wasn't reading properly and caused it to be charged several times without displaying a completed transaction. As it turns out, the chip itself was wearing out - it finally gave up the ghost this past weekend and I've had to order a replacement card. I don't think I've seen a paper paycheck in at least 15 years myself, it's all been direct deposit.

Message 20 of 37
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