topic Would you shop at a store or restaurant that refuses to take cash? in Credit in the News

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

pipeguy — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 16:57:15 GMT

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/visa-takes-war-on-cash-to-restaurants/ar-BBEhceI?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=U142DHP

Not sure it's even legal given cash is legal tender .... but Visa is trying .... gin up the lawyers...

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

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 17:24:51 GMT

Personally, I don't even carry cash.

But, I'm disciplined enough to not spend more than I have. This will only lead to more debt for the average American, it's a horrible greedy decision.

What I'm interested in is would merchants offer a discount for cash purchases

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

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 20:16:01 GMT

I think we already see that with things like gas, where often the cash price is 10 cents per gallon less than the credit price. I'm not sure if this is considered a discount for cash, or a fee for credit. Could be viewed either way I suppose.

I only used cash one time in 2016 personally, cards for everything else.

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

pipeguy — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 22:07:42 GMT

It's one thing if you choose to use cards, but this seems like a "bribe" to force a merchant to not accept cash whereas the bill says on it "this note is legal tender for all debts public and private" which would include when the check was presented after a meal at a restaurant (aka a "debt"). There are an awful lot of people that don't have a checking account, let alone a credit card. Note too that EBT cards can not be used for prepared meals, so is Visa forcing a large part of the population to go buy "gift cards" ?

I can also see the wait staff having 100% of their tips now reported and reduced due to withholding and swipe fees. For those that only use cards, no big deal, but for those that don't or won't use cards you are telling them they are not welcome even with $1000 cash in their pocket. Personally for me and I have a pocketful of cards I would avoid any merchant that told me my "actual money" was no good.

Just imagine the guy that takes his date/wife to a fancy restaurant and drops a couple hundred on dinner and goes to pay with cash - sorry sir we don't accept cash - that's all I have is cash - sorry sir we don't accept US currency (?) Guy goes to walk out after they won't take his cash - restaurant calls the cops, customer says I tried to pay and they rejected my CASH, cop goes huh? You think a judge is going to tell this poor dude, I sentence you to apply for an AmEx and a Visa and when you get approved you have 72 hours to pay the restaurant, and then you can take your "dirty cash" and sent it to the credit card company.

This Visa "policy" (bribe) is going to get tossed by the courts IMO as an unfair business practice. .

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

Anonymous — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 22:57:52 GMT

I can't say I disagree with your perspective there.

It's crazy how the shift from cash to credit has really taken off in the last 10-20 years. 20 years ago in restaurants (at least where I worked) credit verses cash transactions were about 50/50. Last I checked, it was at 81/19 in favor of credit (which also includes debit cards).

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

JustBPatient — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 22:58:25 GMT

I think this is going to become more common. With the advent of Prepaid cards, its just a lot easier for merchants. I think those same merchants will just pass on the fees to the consumers.

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

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 00:36:59 GMT

In restaurants, employers are starting to pass on the fees for tipped CC transactions to the employee that's being tipped.

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

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 13:15:25 GMT

@pipeguy wrote:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/visa-takes-war-on-cash-to-restaurants/ar-BBEhceI?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=U142DHP

Not sure it's even legal given cash is legal tender .... but Visa is trying .... gin up the lawyers...

As much as I want it to not be legal I think it is.

I think Apple did this when they released the iPhone one year. You had to pay by credit card and could not use cash.

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

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 16:00:25 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@pipeguy wrote:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/visa-takes-war-on-cash-to-restaurants/ar-BBEhceI?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=U142DHP

Not sure it's even legal given cash is legal tender .... but Visa is trying .... gin up the lawyers...
As much as I want it to not be legal I think it is.

I think Apple did this when they released the iPhone one year. You had to pay by credit card and could not use cash.

Apple obviously changed that policy, because when I bought my iPhone SE earlier this year, I paid cash at the Apple Store with no problems.

On the larger point, it seems to me that even if it's legal to decline cash payments - there is in fact no Federal law requiring a merchant to accept cash under all circumstances, though some states do have such statutes - a merchant had better have a darn good reason to do so. After all, it says right there on any U.S. currency note: "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private".

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

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 15:58:49 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@pipeguy wrote:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/visa-takes-war-on-cash-to-restaurants/ar-BBEhceI?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=U142DHP

Not sure it's even legal given cash is legal tender .... but Visa is trying .... gin up the lawyers...
As much as I want it to not be legal I think it is.

I think Apple did this when they released the iPhone one year. You had to pay by credit card and could not use cash.
Apple obviously changed that policy, because when I bought my iPhone SE earlier this year, I paid cash at the Apple Store with no problems.

Yeah it was a long time ago

https://www.wired.com/2007/10/the-iphone-cash/

This artcile goes into why it's legal to not accept cash.

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

pipeguy — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 16:37:37 GMT

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.....

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

Anonymous — Thu, 13 Jul 2017 16:44:25 GMT

@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

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

SOGGIE — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 14:48:49 GMT

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

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

SOGGIE — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 15:58:49 GMT

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

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

Anonymous — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 16:18:30 GMT

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! .....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.

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

Revelate — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 20:38:26 GMT

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.

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

sjt — Sun, 16 Jul 2017 21:00:24 GMT

Need to also consider Debit/ATM transactions.

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

DaveInAZ — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 17:08:46 GMT

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.

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

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Jul 2017 17:30:04 GMT

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.

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

Anonymous — Wed, 19 Jul 2017 12:48:50 GMT

@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.