I had my account hacked and all of the funds stolen when I was on vacation.
Luckily I had brought cash with along with me. And I was in the US.
I do not use my card for small purchases, especially when abroad, in fear of this happening again. After paying your bill, your account info can be skimmed and your finances depleted before you've even completed your dessert, in certain restaurants of the world. Going entirely electronic or digitizing our money is a very bad trend. And if you have never had your bank account stolen by thieves, worry, because it will someday.
27
I'm all for cashless, but there's a few restaurants near my office (including a Dos Toros) which have gone cashless but aren't setup for chip cards or mobile payments. These methods, with their anti-spoofing measures, are much more secure for the consumer. Plus, the merchant is allowed to shift liability onto the card issuer. So, these restaurants are locked into only one payment method, mag stripe swiping, which is the method that carries the greatest risk of liability for me and them.
4
I just wrote emails to my New York City and New York State representatives asking them to pass legislation prohibiting businesses from denying service to customers who desire to pay in cash.
10
"... asking them to pass legislation prohibiting businesses from denying service to customers who desire to pay in cash."
What did you "ask" them to do if businesses want to charge a *fee* for paying in cash?
I'm not drafting the actual legislation but I would suspect legislation, if enacted, may prohibit ore limit fees and discounts related to cash and credit purchases.
4
We are already paying a "fee" to use cash, in a sense. If the card companies get 3%, and card customers are not charged 3% extra for using a card, then cash customers are subsidizing their card use unless we are offered a 3% discount.
2
This activity is anti-consumer and should be investigated by the New York Attorney General. The fact that credit card companies are paying $10,000 bonuses to businesses to eliminate taking cash should tell you everything you need to know about how consumer unfriendly this is.
16
Add me to the Luddite list.
No-cash establishments might as well put out signs saying "No poor people. No old people. No foreign people with non-US credit cards."
Moreover, in these days of data breaches and a general lack of privacy, it should be my choice how I wish to pay for a small purchase. (I should not have to give up my identity and credit information for the privilege of eating a sandwich.) As a matter of principle, I do not patronize businesses that won't accept US currency.
In a New York that markets itself as welcoming to all people, I'm surprised that we don't have a local ordinance addressing the issue.
16
Cashless business operations should be prohibited by law. "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" is what it says on all US paper currency. this is a job for the states attorneys general to put a stop to.
7
Why are you still persecuting me? I’m innocent in all matters. Don’t I deserve peace and maybe a trip with me and my Husband and family? I’m also stressed and struggling for money and I NEED HELP GETTING BACK ON MY FEET! Try making my life easier I need a job and help! I can’t even buy food or pay any of our bills and I’ve always paid my bills on time. I’m a-48.55 in my checking account. I don’t know how to get out of this mess. I didn’t ask for this. Thank you Davis Taylor and Donnie Stephens. Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you all!
If everybody walked into one of these places and placed a really large order, then said, "Forget it!" when asked for a credit card, well, it'd be interesting.
Who benefits? The banks who issue the cards.
Who loses? The customers.
12
Virtual money. Virtual President.
Virtual security. Virtual swamp-draining.
Virtual progress. Virtual facts.
Virtual virtue. Virtual virtue.
7
How big must profits be for a business to refuse legal tender?
4
Soooooo, you go to store ABC, attempt to purchase with cash, of which you have more than the total billed, and store ABC states cashless payment, forcing you to use your credit card/debit card. Store ABC is later hacked and your credit/debit card account gets hacked. I assume if you used a credit card no problem, if you used a debit card, then you're responsible up to a certain amount.
Who's responsible now? You had the cash but were "forced" to use your card. Lawyers are going to love this.
5
They offer you free credit monitoring for a year. Don't you feel so much safer?
4
There will be black-outs. There will be cyber attacks. Cash will be necessary at some point.
7
Maybe these stores know something we need to figure out:
That in neo-Facist Amerika, our currency is worthless.
3
Banks -- Wells Fargo most recently -- have proven to be unethical, deceitful, incompetent, greed-driven quasi-criminal syndicates, which are contemptuous of consumers and government regulation.
No other commercial sector has been regularly bailed out by taxpayers or has inflicted more economic damage on more people than banking.
Anyone who's foolish enough to hail digital payments as better than cash should be free to exercise that option, just like anyone who prefers using cash should be free to do the same.
If any retail manager finds reconciling cash with receipts too troublesome, they should either acquire a currency counting machine or they're in the wrong line of work.
This is privatization of public currency or money, which is equally abhorrent as privatized social security, privatized prisons or our privatized health insurance system.
Eliminating choices isn't progress.
Any retail business that won't take my cash won't get my business.
11
I understand completely Wells Fargo has completely messed up my personal and business accounts on a daily basis and I refinanced a vehicle this year and they supposedly put the vehicle in my name and I just found out recently I’m just a co- signer! It’s ridiculous the way they treat customers. I think it would be better to keep my money in a vault at home.
5
Hope someone will create a list of these establishments soon.
3
They surely can be trusted with your intimate personal information for giving you so much additional convenience, right? Wouldn't you trust those managers that signed people up for additional services without permission with all of your financial information?
1
It is amazing how many readers of the NY Times are Luddites. They refuse to move into the modern age. It has gotten expensive for businesses to use cash. With electronic transactions, the bank takes care it and the business can follow the money electronically. Money itself is filthy. People seem to be worried that someone is going to be able to check your account to see that you bought a sandwich at a certain restaurant. Are you as paranoid about the security cameras too?
People should note also that cash is not accepted on most toll roads. Those who were worried about having an e-z pass tracking your every road trip now have their license plates on file instead. We are headed for a cashless society. Our currency will be used only for illegal transactions. Get used to it.
3
Yup. Good to wear a hoodie and dark glasses when you're out and about. Even better: a balaclava with a ski mask. That's the look I'm rocking these days.
3
Sounds like jingle bells if panhandlers solicit outside a cashless joint.
2
I live in NE Germany, a very cash-driven society. Most of my friends and co-workers do not have credit cards... they are available only to top earners and are paid in full each month. We do have Maestro debit cards, which we use, especially for large purchases. But not everyplace will take "plastic": many stores and restaurants are cash only. Not taking cash at all?! Wow! People here do most of their day-to-day shopping (groceries, bakery, coffee) in cash and prefer that to being tracked and having all of their purchases recorded. I grew up in the US and would have a hard time moving back.
25
The United States federal reserve note is LEGAL TENDER FOR A-L-L DEBTS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
How dare these ganefs refuse to accept it!
4
Sweden is very far along the cash-free path, and one thing that seems to facilitate this is the fact that just about everyone seems to have a smartphone. This is seen most strikingly by the fact that beggars who have come here from Rumania and Bulgaria, braving the cold to sit outside gathering a few Swedish crowns, all have smartphones.
Need to use a high-quality bathroom at Nils Ericson bus terminal in Central Gothenburg. Dial the number on the door, give the code for that door, and 10 crowns are collected via your phone.
I do not pretend to know all the ways charges are made to phones, but you the Times can find out.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US Se
"... beggars ... all have smartphones."
Cellphone service costs money, so how are "beggars" paying for that service?
"Need to use a high-quality bathroom ... and 10 crowns are collected via your phone."
That's about US $1.20. What do the "beggars" use for a toilet?
1
What happens when the power goes out and you need to use the bathroom?
3
So much for the concept of legal tender…
2
You don't accept cash??? I'll spend my money elsewhere.
5
Foreigners will be happy to get gouged by their banks change rates when visiting, yay.
Where is Paul Krugman when you need him? Or that familiar commenter from PA, expert-refreshing our Econ 101?
Listen, when payments go cashless, the velocity of money increases substantially, which lowers demand for money. That makes Supply look obese, which is what happens when interest rates fall.
We want money to have high velocity. If it sits in your wallet/purse (or under your mattress), it’s of no use to anyone. Useless. If you can make it sit in an interest-bearing account, great, if not, one way or the other, you should move it, most likely the other, which is consumption.
From a business perspective, cash means a time lag in up-to-date financials, which, in addition to costs, is a cost in itself, because time, as we well know, is money.
That doesn’t mean we should let businesses turn cash off and reap all the benefits solo. I want my cut. At a restaurant, for example, I want the option of ordering calories with personalized options. Breakfast please, 400 calories, no eggs. Even better, walk-in first time to a boondocks McD and get instantly greeted with “The usual?”. Because of a face-id scan and instant look-up. Cool, huh? How about NYT minus anti-Trump, minus Russia scoops, 5 bucks/mo? That *would* COOL. Krugman, you’re fired.
Bottom-line, paper money has significant costs associated with it, and none of the rewards. The real question, then, is not where the buck restarts, but what all this means for Gold? Not good news, unfortunately. Sell.
1
"From a business perspective, cash means a time lag in up-to-date financials, ..."
Apparently you have never noticed how long it takes for a pending credit card transaction to be posted.
3
"Listen, when payments go cashless, the velocity of money increases substantially, which lowers demand for money."
Listen. You don't know what you're talking about. Plastic transactions get held by Visa/MC for 1-3 days. Cash is cash immediately.
6
@PLN
True, but that’s from your and my perspective, the end points of the transaction. But from the merchant’s perspective, the money is in, because the transaction has gone through, which means her receivables are lower, her revenues duly marked, and her creditors and investors happy. Most importantly, new metadata available for processing and (re)sale. Jingle all the way, cashless.
1
We're turning into China!
New York City is a very annoying place to live.
4
Whatś the big deal about Big Brother tracking your purchases, unless it'is child pornography who cares what you buy, how do they target you, advertising? Email, block and unsubscribe, paper letters, throw them out, but I do not think I EVER got anything I ascribe to something tracking my purchases. The best thing I learned using cards to pay for everything, yes I am an idiot that uses cards for purchases under a dollar, is what Panama Jim taught me, use your points and miles and travel for practically nothing, hotels, air tickets, cruises, car rentals (and with my Amtrak card) train tickets (so far nothing with the buses, credit card take notice, one should issue a Greyhound one!!
All of you paranoid, fearful of being tracked and quoting long, boring, difficult to understand passages (and why oh, why do some people keep quoting the canard of legal tender) about the constitutional right of using paper dollars, go the places that still take cash, and there are more that take cash only instead of cards and yes you pay more to subsidize those of use who use the cards and use the points for travel and reward gifts, if you would rather feel righteous then enjoy the ¨rebates" you get using card. I only wish, I was a female, since males usually pay for a date I can not do what a female friend does which is when she goes out and her date pays with cash, she asks if they can give her the cash and she pay for the meal with her credit card so she can get points!!!
1
I must say I agree with your assessment regarding "...long, boring, difficult to understand passages..." Physician, heal thyself.
As for your female friend, does she understand why she is seldom asked out on a second date?
4
If a hundred people show up at a store, order and eat lunch, offer nothing but cash for the bill, and then walk out when the cash isn't accepted, the store will either change its policy quickly, or it will have to have to have recordings of an employee telling every customer that they do not accept cash before the order is placed. That should present a pretty picture, especially if people form picket lines around the stores.
Of course a country that falls for the Silicon Valley snake oil of "disruption" as inherent progress and the Wall Street snake oil of "convenience and safety" not only gets stores that won't accept legal tender and Uber disrupting traffic but a nation primed by 2016 to elect a Disrupter-In-Chief. There really is no difference between falling for the marketing hype of Visa, Mastercard, Apple, Facebook, Uber, Twitter, Google, AirBnb, and their ilk and falling for the hype of Trump.
A people who allow themselves to fall for the lie that these corporations are different from Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, Bank of America, Lockheed, Wells Fargo, and their ilk, are primed to allow themselves to fall for the lie that Trump was running to "drain the swamp."
At the very least, customers could form a class action suit to force the Fed to enforce the laws. Of course picket lines, boycotts, and class action suits would be so inconvenient, so 20th century, so passé, so yesterday. Better we should have virtual money, a virtual President, and virtual resistance.
3
it should be illegal not to accept cash
banks again controlling the economy and making tons
pay cash pay cash pay cash and the trend towards credit cards will be slower
6
Welcome to the world, US! And you have to hurry, because cards are on their way out soon, too. Paying with apps on smart phones is spreading widely, with China in the lead.
5
I have no interest in being a part of that world of thralldom to Apple and the big banks
I pay in cash
Period
11
"Paying with apps on smart phones ..."
What does cellphone service cost in Sweden?
7
What happens when your phone is lost, stolen, destroyed or runs out of power? Do you have backup systems like credit cards, cash, or even gold?
12
Wall street, hedge funds, banks love this, In the future they will make 10% of every dollar that changes hands and the consumers with pay the 10%
3
When all spending is transacted via one or two electronic portals the citizen's civil rights are at grave risk on at least two levels: error or system failure at the portal end and, even more serious, government oversight and even maliciousness. Does a prosecutor want to coerce you? Freeze your cards on some pretext of suspicion about the source of funds. Your bank will invariably agree to such a request. Do the feds want to defuse a protest movement? They can think up a hundred ways to justify freezing the accounts of the leaders. They don't have to take the money - just make it inaccessible. Acquiescing to a cashless society hands a frightening control mechanism to the powers that be. While I do in fact use my debit card for most purchases, I feel strongly that a business refusing to take cash at all should be boycotted.
12
There are machines that count money; why wouldn't a restaurant use one them?
6
As long as the customer in front of me isn't paying by check, I'm OK with this. Check writers in check-out lines are a million times worse than slow-walkers.
4
Some check writers (including me) fill out the check (other than the amount) BEFORE getting in line. The amount of time it takes me to write in the total (both numerically and alphabetically) is negligible, and I don't think it takes any more time than the card routine. If so, maybe 2 or 3 seconds. Are you really in that much of a hurry?
What sort of business model prefers: 1. Collecting $.95 for every dollar charged a customer. 2. Giving control of their cash flow and receivables to a giant corporation? 3. Trying to maintain sufficient tech redundancy to stay open at times the card reader fails? This is an IRS dream come true.
3
Recently, in Amsterdam, I got the remark: "Wow. Are you really still paying in cash?" I had to apologize to my friend that I had sold some of my bitcoins for cash to a friend, hence the paper in my wallet.
It's been remarkable how quickly cash dissappeared here from shops. Our version of Whole Foods has been card-only ever since they opened seven years ago, for safety and sustainability concerns. Nowadays anything from train tickets to vending machines are 'tap-only', where small amounts up to 50 euros don't require a PIN-code to be entered.
While reading this article, I was actually a little amazed that this is seen as a new thing. I guess for about two years now, card only has been the standard in most cities here in the Netherlands. Cash is accepted, but not everywhere.
6
That's insane!
What do you do if the power goes out?
Remind me to never visit your country
3
A restaurant owner here in Austin told me he went the cashless route to keep employees from stealing cash from him. I've stopped patronizing his business. I wonder if other credit card only businesses are motivated by this same distrust of their employees.
4
Virtual money vs. real money.
Virtual fact vs. real fact.
Virtual convenience vs real convenience.
Virtual science vs. real science.
Virtual President vs. real President.
Virtual progress vs. real progress.
3
I carry a credit card but I resent being forced to use it: my credit-card issuer doesn't need to know my every purchase. The one restaurant I've eaten at that only accepted credit cards did not announce this policy until the food was already dished up. It will not be getting my business again.
If you can't be bothered with cash, I can't be bothered with you.
9
It boggles my mind that a business would exclude a paying customer whether by cash or credit. There is such a high failure rate for businesses that serve food. I assure you, I would vote with my feet if you don't want to take my cash! There are so many other businesses who are happy to serve me.
5
Simple, do not patronize places that won't take cash. They are doing this because they are getting some kind of deal from the credit card companies but it is taking away the freedom of Americans to protect themselves from identity theft.
I only pay for gas with cash because sliders are very common at gas stations
5
The reason why I love the NYT is the online letters are just as insightful as the article. So yes we all get it, Cashless is a deal with the devil: merchant has to pay interchange fees but in return solves huge headaches of dealing with cash not the least of which is theft by employees and from somebody pointing a gun at said employee's face. Governments get to make it harder and harder for illegal enterprises to profit in the shadows and legal enterprises to hide revenue. But, we are all giving up the anonymity of a cash society, no small thing, also ,ahem, makes us incredibly vulnerable to all kinds of cyber warfare and crime.
6
Many people worry about Big Brother intruding on their lives, but I think the pendulum of largess has swung so far toward permissiveness that it will be good if all transactions are digital. Hundreds of billions of dollars a year evade taxes in one way or another and crime persists despite the incarceration of millions. Make it physically impossible to steal or evade taxes and society will have money for basic improvements. Nobody cares what you buy as long as it's legal. In fact, no one cares about you at all, only your ego thinks so.
5
I would love a list of businesses that do not accept cash...lots of potential on the house stuff to be had.
2
Set up your monthly online banking, so your credit card is automatically paid in full.
It isn't hard. And you get points!
They don’t take cash? No business from me.
3
One of my favorite stores gives me a discount when I pay cash.
4
It comes down to a complete lack of privacy.
It's a way to track you.
Where do you go?
What do you buy?
Where and when and what do you eat?
Your preferences are part of Big Data.
35
This has nothing to do with being a Luddite. I rarely carry cash, that's not the point. Having a bank account should not be a litmus test for whether someone can participate in society. Imagine if grocers stopped taking cash. This is leaving aside the concern that our every move is documented, tracked and sold by credit card companies and banking institutions. I'm glad to see some states have outlawed this practice. I will be encouraging my Assemblyperson to introduce such legislation.
9
From a consumer view, it is like insurance. Busyness set their prices for the most part by spreading the credit card fees over all customers. This lessens the impact to each individual.
Also, I is easy to set up the ability to take cards even for say a food truck. Just go to square.com. It takes 5 minutes to set up the account. They send you a reader that fits in the headphone jack. As long as you have access to the internet, and most plans today include data. Voila, done.
The convenience of not needing to carry cash will become overwhelming. Even the cost of issuing cards likely soon will be prohibitive and everything will be paid for by phone apps (what happens if you lose your phone? – eeeech!!!) But, in the end, we will have surrendered the last and perhaps one of our most important liberties: anonymity. Certainly police, intelligence agencies and government generally will be able to assemble a comprehensive record of our movements and actions that will be very difficult, possibly impossible, to mask.
The upside, apart from convenience and driving down the cost of transactions, is that it will become increasingly difficult for criminals to move large amounts of money and perhaps even conduct operations. And cops and spooks and the IRS will respond that if you’re not doing anything naughty you don’t have anything to fear (uh … where have I heard THAT before?).
But how about the guy who likes to go to casinos now and then, and doesn’t want anyone to know about it (certainly his wife, but perhaps his employer)? How about the woman who can no longer book a hotel room to meet the guy with whom she’s having an affair? You can run the scenarios yourself.
Moving beyond humor, how will the Big Brother aspect of this evolution impact on human behavior generally, when your whole life becomes an open book to anyone who has access, including hackers selling that record? You think facial profiling is intrusive? It’s NOTHING like THIS.
7
I am pushing 70 - so I remember cash only stores.
And in those days, credit cards were not easy to get hold of. And then, they had really low limit.
Finally, you had to sign that carbon paper receipt which often soiled your fingers.
So, we have come a long way indeed.
I just finished living in England and NYC may be slightly behind the Brits.
In London especially,forget swiping the card - you just tap the screen with card and it rings to register payment. There is not even a code to enter.
Even London buses encourage this payment and promote it.
I have found that first, I am not a Luddite and second, it helps me keep expenses account better.
While it's definitely good for credit card companies - they can help us better on our bills by segregating
different expenses in categories.
You would think it would be easy and probably good for them - but no I still get a screen after screen of my charges.
And with new iPhone style payments - credit card may be at the stage where paying by check or even cash has come down to.
3
One thing that gets me is when a business takes credit cards and wants cash tips. I acknowledge that this is sometimes legitimate, but it's still a hassle and a red flag. Are they really asking me to help them evade taxes?
6
Tips should be considered a gift and not taxable unless for some reason a patron tips an individual over $14,000 in a given year. It’s a grossly regressive tax; I’m not their employer. That’s why I only tip in cash and I certainly hope those that receive them don’t report them.
5
Merchants are charged a fee for each transaction. The smaller the business, the higher the fee (Amazon can negotiate a volume discount with Visa that the corner hair salon cannot). The business is often willing to pay the fee for the services they are providing, but don't want to or can't pass the fee along to the server who is getting the tip. It also leaves the business owner out of the hassle of splitting the tips when necessary - the customer can do that for herself.
1
When is that ever legitimate? The only reason to do it is to keep it off the books.
One good thing: this means that these businesses aren’t hiding cash receipts from the tax man. One bad thing: the customers are paying a little extra to cover the fees payment services tack on.
I carry almost no cash. The only thing I regularly pay for in cash is coffee.
4
A cashless society is another step in the direction of 1984 where everyone is under constant surveillance. Though nominally we willingly allow ourselves to be surveilled through voluntary use of computers, the internet, smart phones, other digital devices that track us, and debit/credit cards, in reality few of us would willing choose to be surveilled to the extent we are. And we aren't even aware of the degree of surveillance we are subject to, so our nominal consent to the surveillance and tracking is debatable given the lack of full disclosure offered to the public about the extent and uses of the surveillance and tracking, as as a number of writers have pointed out.
However, the impersonal coercion of increasingly needing to use electronic funds through a diminishing ability to use cash creates a trail of our financial activity to a micro-level that serves the interest of many in the information and marketing businesses, not just debit/credit card and financial companies, and also governments--plural and global.
This is actually a very serious issue for we the people to consider and make choices and policies about--before we no longer have a choice. I'm disappointed in the shallow treatment of that issue, along with the minimal regard given to the class-based and discrimination issues in this too-simple article about this very significant, far-reaching matter.
76
worrying about privacy in these cases is like locking the door on an empty barn...who cares whether you have a taco, a burger or a pizza? the important thing is to get you/us to pay interest, over and above the exorbitant price we already pay for the taco-pizza-burger..swallowing nonsense about convenience or millenarians or "modern" marketing misses the marketing which is as old as what the jesus gang , according to legend, protested at the temple: collecting interest!
2
Who wants every tiny purchase tracked and logged by a credit card company? Personally, I would like the freedom to enjoy an ice cream cone without Visa leveraging the purchase for corporate gain. I think these shops who have eliminated cash have sold away their customers‘ privacy.
30
My bigger problem is dealing with merchants who surcharge credit card payments disguising it as a cash discount or set minimum for using a credit card. Now that is a problem.
22
Yes, even bigger is the "cash discount" that comes "without sales tax" for the customer and apparently without any tax for the business.
1
Jeff, as someone who uses credit cards to pay the mileage game I agree with you completely, there are many articles on the internet to google how you can contact Visa or Mastercard for merchants who do that like this http://www.ncsl.org/research/financial-services-and-commerce/credit-or-d...
and of course one can just simply boycott them, but as someone who will use a card for under a $1 purchase I AM somewhat sympathetic to small business so neither report or boycott them.
1
Keeps the riff raff out. A form of economic discrimination.
21
Discriminating against whom?
If you'd rather not join a bank, credit unions exist for almost every demographic. If your credit isn't good, debit cards are can be used instead.
Who are you defining as 'riff-raff"—those who choose to keep their money under a matress?
If a hundred people show up at a store, order and eat lunch, offer nothing but cash for the bill, and then walk out when the cash isn't accepted, the store will either change its policy quickly, or it will have to have to have recordings of an employee telling every customer that they do not accept cash before the order is placed. That should present a pretty picture, especially if people form picket lines around the stores.
Of course a country that falls for the Silicon Valley snake oil of "disruption" as inherent progress and the Wall Street snake oil of "convenience and safety" not only gets stores that won't accept legal tender and Uber disrupting traffic but a nation primed by 2016 to elect a Disrupter-In-Chief. There really is no difference between falling for the marketing hype of Visa, Mastercard, Apple, Facebook, Uber, Twitter, Google, AirBnb, and their ilk and falling for the hype of Trump.
A people who allow themselves to fall for the lie that these corporations are different from Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, Bank of America, Lockheed, Wells Fargo, and their ilk, are primed to allow themselves to fall for the lie that Trump was running to "drain the swamp."
At the very least, customers could form a class action suit to force the Fed to enforce the laws. Of course picket lines, boycotts, and class action suits would be so inconvenient, so 20th century, so passé, so yesterday. Better we should have virtual money, a virtual President, and virtual resistance.
21
A new chicken joint opened here in LA that is "cashless." It doesn't bother me in the slightest. I've embraced ApplePay and have primarily used credit cards for years. Cash only policies are far more challenging for me. There will be folks who decry the loss of analog society. Folks that resist change (no pun intended). Whether you like it or not, this is the direction we're heading and it doesn't bother me on iota even though I like the romance of the old school burger stand in Van Nuys that is open from 10-2 Monday through Friday and only takes cash. Maybe I like it because it's a relic and once it's gone...it's gone forever.
2
you should be a little worried about the way you're being tracked all the day everyday, and more and more in everyway. Once you have one account tying up your id info, financial info, health info, address and connected appliances at home, it will be impossible to go back and you won't have a say about what the people managing your data (be it government or private company, equally frightening to me) do with it.
2
You do realize it's you not the store that's paying the 10%
1
I've long been in the habit of maintaining a minimum amount of cash in my savings and checking accounts -- just enough to pay bills -- and using any cash I have leftover after doing that to buy shares of common stock. Unlike our present Federal Reserve Board and many economists, I believe inflation is real.
https://rarehistoricalphotos.com/banknotes-german-hyperinflation-1923/
1
"at least so far, the places going cashless are sufficiently expensive ($3 for a coffee, $8 and up for lunch)" Just how much of those absurd prices are due to the card issuers skim? If Visa is willing to fork over $10,000 to establishments for going cashless it's because they're going to make that money back fast, and many times over. Obviously the customer pays that surcharge which is built into the price they charge.
I will continue to use cash, especially at businesses which offer a cash discount, although those are getting harder to find, but I will reward them with my business.
17
Visa does make money from their transaction fees, but they make as much or more from selling the data they collect on customers.
4
Well, if I happen to be confronted in this situation and they won't accept my cash, I'll consider the item/service on the house. Don't believe any court in our land would side against my offer of cash.
9
They can take you to court and you can give your cash to the judge. In the end, the joke's on them.
1
If you walked by a sign (as shown in one of the featured photos) that says the business does not accept cash, and proceeded to order anyway — knowing you cannot pay — you are stealing.
2
The US Treasury now interprets the law below in the light most favorable to business. In other words, the country doesn't enforce laws favorable to people, only to businesses:
"United States coins and currency (including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks) are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues. Foreign gold or silver coins are not legal tender for debts."
(Pub. L. 97–258, Sept. 13, 1982, 96 Stat. 980; Pub. L. 97–452, § 1(19), Jan. 12, 1983, 96 Stat. 2477.)
15
Actually not. Businesses that accept credit cards must pay fees to the processor, as well as comply with rules that require them to make investments in technology. Chip readers were a recent expensive requirement that were close to mandatory since failure to use them exposed the merchant to increased fraud liability. Charge backs result in the merchant paying even higher rates, and impose significant paperwork costs to resolve. The significance of these charges and costs varies from high- to low-margin businesses, but the types of stores described in this article would seem to be more sensitive to additional expense than many others.
The consumer, in contrast, receives awards for using most credit cards, and if bills are paid promptly, there is usually no charge to the consumer. It’s difficult to see this practice as exploiting the consumer to favor business. Besides, if you don’t want to use a credit card, surely you can hunt down an alternative vendor who will accept cash.
1
The consumer is or eventually pay the 10%. The store isnot going to take the loss
2
This article sent me on a search to understand how it's possible that "legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues" could possibly be construed to suggest that businesses don't have to accept cash. I found this from the treasury department:
This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services.
Huh??? Orwell would have loved this use of doublespeak.
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/faqs/Currency/Pages/legal-tende...
1
“Cashless” is smoke-and-mirrors for “hand over a cut of every transaction to the big banks and credit card companies”. These vampires already suck too much blood out of our economy. Ugh.
33
David, exactly.
Plus handing over access to information on our every move, purchase, and other personal information - just about every waking minute.
28
It's a big city. Go somewhere else then.
This goes beyond people's perceptions that this circumstance is discrimination, it is a clash of generations which have very different mannerisms in how to pay for goods/services. As we continue further into the 21st century, the ways of the millennials will determine how we live our lives. Whether or not you are young or old, rich or poor is irrelevant. If credit/debit transactions continue to replace cash transactions, then so be it. Afterall, money does not discriminate.
6
Doesn't matter if it's against Federal Law?
12
False. Currency should be accepted everywhere. It protects one from identity theft and protects my privacy. Don't want to live in 1984
9
Riiiight, let's all just follow every supposedly millennial trend - no matter how senseless - like lemmings.
Because of course, in the 21st century, there are no poor people who have no access to credit/debit cards - they don't exist. (Those poor people who clean your offices, work in restaurants, or take care of your kids or grandma - don't actually count as "people," right?)
And as long as millennials don't mind banks and card issuers taking a percentage of each and every transaction - and as long as they don't mind big corporations tracking, recording, and exploiting every last bit of personal information, we should all just follow along without question - right?
Btw, CASH does not discriminate - but card issuers and no-cash businesses definitely do.
11
First the subway, now the eateries. Pretty soon you won't be able to give spare change to a street beggar in New York without some bank or credit company making sure that they get to skim a bit off the top.
19
Surprising. However, I can see that if you're running a shop that you judge will not do well as cash only, that is, if having the credit card POS equipment and the % losses with each transaction are necessary, then that makes accepting and dealing with cash a liability. You may as well force all the would be cash customers to go to plastic.
In the SF Bay area, short order food places and bars thrive on cash only. As I understand it, setting up to take credit cards is a pain in the neck and small operators often go through multiple POS vendors before finding one they can live with.
3
Cube and similar systems seemingly make it easy. Their 2% to 3% fees per transaction is somewhat more than my bicycle club pays their processor but since it's a non-profit and we use the system recommended by the club's credit union, we get a significant discount.
Cash-only proprietors do so to avoid paying taxes on receipts. Full stop.
Some people live by cash only, on purpose, as is their right. If a debit or credit card simply represents "cash" in bank account it seems illegal to refuse the original fiat/dollar bill. We should not, and businesses should not, require a debit card or credit card in lieu cash/dollars.
43
@ staylor53 - brooklyn ny - I note in my main comment that in Sweden even beggars from Rumania and Bulgaria, both EU countries, all have SmartPhones and with a SmartPhone they do not need to have a credit or debit card. There are ways to pay with a SmartPhone but I do not know if Swish, for example, requires a registered credit or debit card, but I give as example using a rest room with a SmartPhone - easy.
As for other Times Picks who complain that this is used to track you, you are already well tracked, just look at the ads that turn up after you search for a case for your SmartPhone.
One Times Pick recognizes that this is also a generation change that happened long ago here in Sweden but as with all things having to do with banking and internet comes to the USA much, much later, if ever.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Dual citizen US SE
Increasing our dependence on cell phones discriminates against those of us who do not like or do not have cell phones, and who do not want to live their lives clicking on little screens. (This comment does not apply to debit or credit cards, but at least one commenter below mentions China, where paying on one's phone is ubiquitous. Let's not get to that point.)
11
Paying in one’s phone is ubiquitous in China because it is part of the national surveillance system.
2
What's the big deal? Sweden is already 99% cashless. And not just a few cupcake boutiques and vegan salad bars. The entire country is almost cashless.
Also, no mention of how dirty and unsanitary cash money is; I'd rather my food servers didn't have to touch it.
2
Cashless is fine enough, but not in a broader environment where paper checks are still a thing. When is the American banking system going to make its way towards the late 20th century?
2
I still pay a few bills by check:
1. My mortgage, because paying online incurs a fee (annoyingly).
2. Propane bill, because they have no online pay system (archaic).
3. My hair stylist, because she uses Square for card payments and it has those obnoxious, choose-your-tip-rate options on it. My check is a form of protest.
1
From China, I feel like reading an article from another era. I leave home regularly without my wallet. Travel the country without using any cash or credit card (though hotels still require card as guarantee). Every payment from subway/taxi/flight to restaurants/coffee/street vendors is taken care of by my phone thru either WeChat or AliPay.
Do I worry about all my purchases are traceable by the Big Brother. Yes for sure. But the convenience is also liberating enough for me to make the tradeoff. And they can track me a hundred other ways anyway.
The future is here. And it’s in China.
7
Given all of China's socioeconomic and environmental issues, I'm not really sure how one could interpret this favorably.
2
I pay with plastic as little as possible to limit my exposure to potential fraud. A store that won't accept a greenback for a bagel is not a store where I'll buy anything.
27
Oh goody, goody - how perfect and convenient for banks and credit card issuers to squeeze more money via fees from both merchants and consumers - and of course, more debt bondage for consumers.
- While also further marginalizing or even totally cutting off all those too poor and/or with too-poor credit to have a credit card or even a bank account or debit card.
Yeah, great - let's further punish and criminalize the poor and working-poor, and the homeless.
Plus now we'll have our every move and purchase tracked - and we know how secure these companies keep our personal information!
Really, do you want your every little purchase and habit tracked and analyzed by huge multinational corporations? Including your prescriptions and OTC medications, alcoholic beverage and fast food purchases?
And as many commenters here note, what happens in a blackout? A major cyberattack? Or just the usual "our systems are down"?
What if either by mistake - or intentionally - some financial institution OR the government shuts down all your cards - leaving you totally helpless to buy ANYTHING?
Wake up, people! I hope the ACLU gets on this.
28
Any day now there will be a more-convenient new payment method. Maybe it will be named "666".
2
I love how a business literally could not care that 3% off the top goes to card processing fees. It must be nice to have such sweet, sweet profit margins that 3% literally doesn't matter. I had no idea it was so easy to make money running a restaurant - everyone I have ever known in the business tells me it's almost impossible to turn a profit. I am glad these guys have it so easy! I will laugh when they are are out of business in a year. Visa and MasterCard, OTOH...
9
I wonder how much these businesses lose to theft from employees or outside criminals which is prevented by having no cash on the premises. Also, cash transactions take longer; more worker time per transaction, which costs money to the owner.
1
If your employee will steal cash, they'll also steal credit card information. Organized thieves actively target this information - recall the lengthy security breach at Target. The card information is more valuable than the cash onsite. The business is not at a lower risk for theft, only a different type of theft. The business has also now spread the risk to their customers even months after a purchase.
2
The businesses just raise the price to cover any bank charges
As far as I know, legally, paper currency denominated in dollars (which used to be called “silver certificates” because they were redeemable in silver — coins, or bars — from the U.S. Treasury) are non-negotiable non-interest bearing debt instruments (aka “notes”) issued by the U.S. Treasury, distributed to the public by the Federal Reserve banking system). “Non-negotiable” in the sense that I can’t tell you the $10 salad you just bought will cost you $12.50 because you just handed me a $20 bill. All such notes are “legal tender for all debts public and private” in the United States at 100% of the value printed on the note, according to the fine print on the $5 bill I just looked at.
“Legal tender”, as in “a store-in-value”.
“For all debts, public and private”, self-explanatory.
All debts.
All.
Thinking like a lawyer — which I’m not, because my size-10 brain just won’t fit inside a size-2 shoe no matter how hard I shove — for this business to refuse to accept bonafide Federal Reserve Notes (aka “cash money”) for a debt just incurred by a purchaser effectively cancels that debt, the merchandise instantly transformed into a gift to the recipient, the thwarted purchaser.
Otherwise, government-issued money is rendered worthless not by fiat but by custom, by public rejection in open defiance of the Commerce clauses in the Constitution, nullifying all prior acts of Congress enacted to regulate banking and money.
Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
10
Does it say it's the only legal tender? Does it say anyone is obligated to accept it instead of any other method?
Addendum:
Over the years I’ve encountered all-cash establishments — small bars, usually, that prefer not to open their books to the tax man. They wouldn’t accept credit or debit cards for that reason and because a POS (point of sale) electronic system is expensive to rent and operate; perfectly legal. But I’ve never encountered the reverse: no cash, all plastic. I think that’s because a credit or debit card isn’t actually “money” in the legal definition of that term. Those innovations merely facilitate its transfer between accounts; not the same thing at all.
I think this business will soon find itself in serious trouble. The sharp point government touches all of us with is money. It takes money from us through taxation, and returns it to us through rebates, subsidies and the tort system administered by the judiciary. Messing with that directly challenges the power of the state. This cannot stand.
2
31 USC Sec. 5103 states that US currency is legal tender to settle all debts. The courts have interpreted this statute to prohibit a creditor from requiring payment in other than US currency, but to allow the creditor to specify a means of payment in US currency other than by cash. In the words of one court, "by cash, by credit card, by wire transfer, or by check . . . ."
2
Must be the low-rent establishments I frequent, but I feel I am much more likely to run into "no credit cards". I warned by millenial daughter in Denver to always have cash on-hand, and it has come in handy for her more than a few times.
5
Cash is a deeply egalitarian method of payment, which is why it is declared as legal tender for all debts, public and private.
You don't need a credit history to use cash. You don't need to apply to a bank or credit card company to use cash. You don't need to pay a credit card fee, nor a merchant charge, to use cash. You don't have to have a bank account to use cash. You can be poor, rich, illiterate, be homeless, be a tourist who arrived minutes ago in this country, and cash allows you to participate in the economy, instantly.
Cash does not discriminate. All you need to use cash is to actually have the stuff.
Until stuck-up, oh-so-special businesses like these sprung up.
If there isn't, there needs to be a Federal law or even a constitutional amendment to force businesses to accept cash, and honor the statement printed on each note by the Treasury, "This Currency Note is Legal Tender for All Debts, Public and Private."
21
Increased efficiency for consumers, reduced risk of loss for business owners, and improved tracking of revenues for taxation purposes. In New York or anywhere, carrying significant amounts of cash is a risk - why would you want to? If a credit card or debit card is lost or stolen, a quick phone call rectifies the issues. If a patron pays with a credit card or debit card, there is no risk of cash being pocketed or not reported to the IRS. The move to cashless transactions is inevitable and a move in the right direction.
For those that do not have credit cards or debit cards or do not have self-control, purchase prepaid cards with cash.
2
The fee structures of pre-paid debit cards can be expensive, and confusing.
And why should people have to pay money in order to spend their money?
5
Please tell me how does one transact business when the power fails? Also it recently took Citibank 22 days to replace my lost debit card, so for that entire period I would NOT be able to transact business if I didn't already have an ample amount of cash which I always have available because the banking system is so prone to errors and of course fraud.
Speaking of debit/credit card fraud, it really seems to be an afterthought for the banks and card issuers. Combine that with lax merchant practices that accept any card that is still active, regardless of the name on the card and the sex of the individual using the card. For years I did my mother's shopping using her credit card with her name on it, and the same thing when I used my wife's card. Never once was I even questioned. The reason is simple, the banks make so much money off their skim that they can afford to blow off the losses.
Another facet of the nonchalance of banks and other business to fraud and identity theft is that they bear no responsibility for failing to safeguard customers information. It's obscene that banks, credit reporting agencies and other companies can expose customers information to identity theft and NOT be responsible for the ensuing nightmare. Customers should be able to sue for the damages including the emotional distress. Unfortunately the spineless worms in Congress indemnify these institutions so they are free to wreck havoc in peoples lives and make a profit from their recklessness.
1
I have not yet seen this trend here in San Francisco. They do keep expanding options to pay with all kinds of electronic apps on your phone, but thankfully cash is still accepted everywhere that I've gone.
I pay with cash and will continue to do so. That's my preference and I believe I have the right to make that choice. I'm pro-choice. If a business wants to accept other forms of payment besides cash, that's fine with me. But don't you dare stop taking cash or you will lose my business.
I have been able to save money for my future and eliminate all my credit card debt. I only carry a certain amount of cash with me and if something costs more than that, I can't buy it. If I really want it, I can get more cash later and come back. If I know I'm going to need to spend a large amount, I plan for that. But it feels good to limit my impulse spending and have no debts hanging over my shoulder.
21
I think that you are exactly the kind of person whom the credit card companies wish to thwart. They can unlock so much more spending (and profits), if they can force us all to carry their cards. They make a profit. They get our data. They neutralize your strategy for managing your own spending. The shops who buy into their scheme care very little for the well-being of their customers.
1
I once kept the same twenty dollar bill for years, decades, because it was the only money I had after graduating college and was what I took to my first job overseas, I was that broke. Years later, I unknowingly dropped the wallet in a restaurant, returned for it, got it, but the twenty was gone. Sad. That twenty, to me and probably not the person who took it, represented a chance to change my circumstances - a cab, a book a phone call, who knows. Although I could probably get farther on a credit card, the plastic has never represented that tangible feeling of possibility and maybe even finality that the 20 did.
4
Ok hit enter and didn't mean to. The only point was that a cashless world is a tethered world. Enough already.
4
Jeeze. I have found so many wallets through the years, and I have never, ever touched the money in them. It would never occur to me to do so. Even when a I was hurting for cash myself, I have always returned found money to its rightful owner.
2
This has largely unrecognized legal implications. Our currency contains a statement that this currency Note is "legal tender for all debts, public and private". If so, how can these establishments legally refuse currency to pay for the debt of the cost of a meal?
10
Read to the end of the article
1
Aaron, so few people do.
So now people can look forward to paying interest to Visa, Mastercard, etc. for their smallest purchases in addition to the extra cost that establishments pass along to customers.
It is much easier and concrete to stay on budget when paying with cash. When it is gone, it is gone.
As many comments have pointed out people on the lower end of the income scale lack access to credit or debit cards. (Might businesses also be saying "sorry we don't want your kind in our establishment.")
18
pseg, yes, those businesses ARE saying "we don't want your kind in our establishment."
In fact, they don't want "that kind" as participants with equal opportunity in our economic system or society.
3
Before you know it these eateries will accept payment only from the chip implanted in your right forearm. The chip is connected to your bank accounts, medical information, insurance, clothing sizes, and much more.
That day is coming. Shave your arm and prepare!
10
It's hard to rob a store with no cash, and the employees can't steal it.
2
Instead, they can steal a great deal more via customers' debit and credit cards - either directly or by selling the data to other criminals.
8
It's kind of weird, because credit card companies (reportedly) gouge merchants. You'd think merchants would prefer cash, of which they get to keep substantially more than card payments. I once made photocopies at a small store which didn't accept credit cards. She said the amt of each sale she had to pay the card companies had become quite a big chunk & she couldn't afford it any more.
Also, you can't make anonymous purchases using cards.
Also, the larger the sea of everyday credit, the greater our vulnerability to hackers.
7
Don't take my cash, then don't get my business. It's as simple as that.
11
The banks are taking over for real.
I guess their not making enough money getting money from the fed at 0% and lending it out at 300% on payday loans.
Go to cash a check and it costs you money and a thumbprint.
Are we criminals now when we use cash?
Didn't we just bail these too big to fail deadbeats out?
7
Having just retired a huge credit card balance, we are cash only in my family except for big purchases. If a place won't take cash, I won't visit. I also don't want my consumption habits tracked. This about privacy as well as freedom from debt.
21
Isn't cash legal tender in the USA?
What does that even mean anymore?
Bitcoin, here we come I guess!
5
It's an interesting trend, and one that for the most part is ignored in Philadelphia (sweetgreen is an exception). I am constantly shocked at how many places there are CASH only. It always makes me think something dishonest is going on in these places.
3
I would not assume dishonesty -- for very small businesses, the cost added by credit transactions is a significant cut into their meager profits.
9
I think that accepting cards only should be outlawed. The practice is classist and discriminatory. It discriminates against those who are too young to have a debit/credit card, some of those that are living in poverty, and anyone who does not have a bank account and lives strictly on cash. I’m not religious, but this wreaks of the stories of the Antichrist I heard as a catholic child.
17
I would agree, except that a lot of business is done on the internet now. Amazon is not going to accept a $20 bill in an envelope, so I imagine everyone else feels those rules should apply to them too. You can't shop on Amazon without some form of electronic payment, and most people think everyone shops on Amazon. A kid growing up today would assume a business can operate just fine without having to accept cash. (With Amazon as a model, she/he might also think a business doesn't have to make any money at all, but that's another story :-)
I never see any bankers in helping at the prep table or sweeping up late at night at my favorite establishments. But the big banks think they deserve a few percent off the top -- just to wet their beaks, of course -- of every transaction. Now where have I seen that business model before?
10
Another way for Big Brother, a.k.a. Big Corporations to track your every move. Those people patronizing those businesses that refuse to take cash are fools at best, imbeciles at worst. Time to boycott all businesses that do so.
11
I just checked a twenty-dollar bill that's in my pocket.
It says:
THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
Doesn't this mean this businesses are breaking the law?
22
I don't see how it cannot mean that.
4
The article states that the Fed danced all around that statement
1
It means you didn't read the article.
Times: "... the places going cashless are sufficiently expensive ..."
That's because those places are indirectly charging their customers for the card fee. The Times should have reported the fees that card companies charge.
Times: "Visa recently offered select merchants a $10,000 reward for depriving customers of their right to pay by the method of their choice."
When the card fees exceed that "$10,000 reward", it is the customers who will be paying the fees through higher prices.
Fortunately, those fees give a competitive advantage to businesses that accept cash, so this "trend" is not a slippery slope.
2017-12-27 01:47:29 UTC
7
If I started a customer fronting business, I think the 3% transaction fees of the card are worth the reduced risks of theft (customer and employee), counterfeit, and increased logistics (counting, depositing, securing), involved in cash transactions -- I would faster go this route than cash only.
3
I work near Dos Toros, 2 Forks, and Dig Inn. There is so much foot traffic that the people that don't have a card probably won't make a dent in their bottom line. Maybe this will turn some customers away, but I imagine these businesses did a study and found most people didn't pay with cash.
3
Not paranoid, but this smacks of big brother. Or stupid people being duped by credit card companies. I'm getting old, and tired.
25
You may or may not be old (if you are still commenting on the NYT, you might be old but you're certainly sharp enough), but you are simply of a different mindset.
I don't disagree with your perspective, but I also see the other side.
There is no "off the grid." It doesn't exist and that's good. Very few serial killers, kidnappers, etc can stay undetected bc of all the technology. That's a trade I'm willing to make.
2
Choosing to use cash is not the same as imagining that one is "off the grid." There is nothing wrong with wanting your purchases to remain anonymous rather than becoming part of some giant data base that can and will be used to hector you with ads.
2
LOL. Off-grid very much exists. It's not generational guarantee, but constant learning. Technology is only helping to solve the crimes you mentioned on tv. In the real world, it's easier for someone with a bit of tech to track your location remotely, monitor your communication, and hide what they've done from law enforcement by using improved privacy tools. If you thought you were trading privacy for security, you've made a bad trade. It is a better trade than privacy for convenience.
Seems the link with the Massachusetts law stating that it is illegal to refuse cash in Massachusetts didn’t come through in my last post.
Here it is, copied and pasted:
“General Laws Part III Title IV Chapter 255D
“Section 10A. No retail establishment offering goods and services for sale shall discriminate against a cash buyer by requiring the use of credit by a buyer in order to purchase such goods and services. All such retail establishments must accept legal tender when offered as payment by the buyer.”
34
Peter Lugers Steak House accepts only cash and there own credit card.
8
As an adult, I never use cash to buy things, but I do wonder how children will learn about money in the cashless future. Taking a few bucks from Dad and running to the store alone to buy some Skittles or an ice cream is an important and much unheralded rite of passage. I'm sure many readers have such memories. What happens when you can't do that any more...remembering that no child can get a credit card until they are 18? Maybe cards for children will become a thing...but I'm not sure I want children sucked into the Visa and MasterCard system aged 8.
8
Children under 18 can open joint accounts with a parent and use debit cards. Parents can control the amount of money in their accounts by using online banking. Teens don't use cash much anymore.
My 19 year old nephew has NO concept of money, because he always uses a debit card, and he never sees his parents use cash.
That's a lot of rigmarole and financial/ID theft risk for a teenager to have to deal with, instead of just using cash.
My perception is that credit card purchases take 2 or 3 times longer than cash deals. I don't believe the VISA allegation that the purchases made with their cards are quicker: I've stood in line too many times while some idiot buys a Coke with a card. Sorry VISA, just ain't so.
23
I 100 percent disagree with your perception. Not that I think cash takes that long most of the time --checks are the method of payment that usually takes forever to do - thankfully that has become rare! -- but only can the quickest of cash transactions beat an average credit card transaction. I've stood in line too many times while some idiot buys a cart-load of groceries and takes a minute digging through their pockets/purse because they have to pay with exact cash/coin.
3
Don’t you have PayWave in the US? I don’t remember the last time that I paid for anything with cash but think it may have been the middle of last year while camping in the farthest reaches of Outback Australia where the only phone service was satellite.
1
JPE and Judy, slow down and take a breath, so it takes an extra minute in line, just relax, and not be so impatient.
Did Visa sponsor this?
13
Im out. Its cash or nothing.
I refuse to go to the places that don't accept cash.
Sorry , but you can keep your surveillance state techniques
to yourself.
42
Amen. Time ot boycott those businesses that won't take cash. Let the sheep be led over a cliff.
9
So the restaurant industry claims its modernizing its processes and this will benefit consumers. Yet, when asked to split a check (something easily done in virtually any other U.S. city), NYC restaurants offer a dusty abacus and a heaping bowl of apathy. Readers, behold the emperor's new winter clothing line.
6
One person pays and everyone pays their cash to that person.
Actually not a big deal and done all of the time.
1
Honeybee, that doesn't work in every situation - especially if more than one person needs to have a record of the expense for work, etc. or there's significant variance between each person's order.
3
I think it is done now easier than that, people send cash to each other with online banking.
I live in queens and used to the “cash only” sign. And guess what ? Still many businesses are like that, except they weren’t located in any of the upscale locations mentioned in the article. I would say, cashless is new and have a lot to catch on. I wouldn’t be worried .
Well heck, on the opposite side of the coin, in my neighborhood, we had a wonderful Vietnamese take-out that only took cash, and they went out of business because their lack of taking credit cards severely limited their business. It's going to be interesting to see how this all pans out...
3
Maximizing a customer's payment options is bound to work better than limiting them. I guess some businesses have convinced themselves otherwise.
6
One thing that seems to be missing in all the comments is the fact that this is being done to make their business unattractive to would be robbers. a real and legitimate fear.
i was also wondering would these same places accept Bitcoins? what's next a Bitcoin credit card? now why didn't i think of that?
3
Well obviously, the easiest way to make a business unattractive to robbers is to turn away paying customers so there is nothing to steal. This is an absurd reason to risk losing sales or giving away your product. Thieves use cards too, and chargebacks are a real cost not covered by theft insurance.
4
The biggest thieves are the employees. But they're just trying to compensate for being underpaid.
1
Interesting.
I recently tried to make an appointment with a physician and was told, "We don't accept Medicare patients." Speaking with the doctor himself I said, "Then you're illegally discriminating against me because of my age since only people over 65 have Medicare"
I guess that the poor are not a protected class under the Anti-discrimination statutes.
13
Not true. You have the choice to purchase better insurance on your own dime rather than accept the free government insurance that pays doctors pennies on the dollar compared to private insurance. Why would doctors voluntarily choose lower paying patients? They're already overworked and burned out. Cut out the Medicare patients and they can make the same amount of money per day, see fewer patients, and get home earlier.
2
Free government insurance? Medicare is NOT free. We paid into it for years, and we still pay for it - there is a monthly premium deducted from one's Social Security, or paid by the Medicare patient himself-herself when delaying SS payments. Medicare is not free.
7
OMG MEDICARE IS NOT FREE. You've paid for it your ENTIRE working life, and CONTINUE to pay for it via monthly premiums, co-pays, prescription plans, and an additional medical insurance for "part B"
Let me guess......Social Security retirement and disability benefits are welfare hand-outs for lazy people, right?
1
I was approached last week by a panhandler asking if I could spare a dollar.
I shrugged and said "Sorry. Cashless."
I'd be surprised if he hasn't heard that before.
Modern panhandlers might want to invest in something like a Square Reader.
I also know subway buskers whose income is in the toilet compared to a few years ago. They blame it at least partly on cashlessness.
1
It is illegal to refuse cash in Massachusetts.
https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIII/TitleIV/Chapter255D/S...
9
This is set in NYC; you are quoting Massachusetts law.
3
That law is not enforced. It was enacted in the '70s and probably was intended to prevent retailers from requiring buyers to open a line of credit in order to make a purchase.
1
Try finding a dentist who will accept cash in MA which I had to do once for a crown. Almost impossible to pay for a medical procedure or help with cash.
4
So… I can’t be denied service based on my color, my ethnicity, or my race, right. And unless the Supreme Court overturns the Colorado Supreme Court, I can’t be denied service if I am Gay.
But, I can be denied service if I want to pay with legal US tender?
Uh-huh, I can see why the Feds are not wanting to mess with this. Cash is the last bastion of anonymity and the Federal Government, (and this is not a Left or Right argument, as it spans all parts of the spectrum,) wants to know who I am and what I am doing at all times. From the IRS to Homeland Security, they hate the anonymity that cash affords.
This, however, ought to be red meat for the ACLU. It is a privacy issue, plain and simple.
19
In Australia we are a step behind China. With a Visa and MasterCard you have a facility to simply tap the merchant's card console and the purchase is made. No PIN or special app. It's quick and easy and can be used for purchases up to A$100 (about US$85). It's called "Tap and Go". Also currently some banks have a system where you can do the same with your mobile or smart watch. And incidentally most retailers still keep in a bottom draw an old mechanical merchant facility for those extremely raw occasions when the power or internet is down. I would think the same would apply to the US .
2
If one objects to this practice, you can always just buy stuff elsewhere.v
1
Just so you know, that's not the definition of fair.
7
"This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" That is what the Treasury has printed on our money. Does it have a meaning?
7
It kind of serves as a guarantee for the acceptor, not the spender.
Do people really not get this basic fact?
A company can demand gold bullion if they like. If you can't/won't pay like that, they don't want your business.
2
Does the US Treasury have a public meaning?
Maybe it is on par with In God We Trust?
I see a class action lawsuit in the making. How would you expect poor people to pay for something when they can't get a credit or a bank account. These businesses are looking to pay Legal fees just for denying someone access based on credit or debit charges...
10
When you buy on debit/credit card you tend to spend more than when you pay cash. More money for the business.
Another problem: the more places you use credit/debit cards, the more likely your card will encounter a point of sale terminal that was hacked by crooks who will then proceed to make large purchases on your account. This is largely alleviated by the chip cards, but not completely. As more cards become chip based the crooks will find ways to compromise them.
I personally never use a card for a small purchase. Cuts down on chances of compromised card greatly.
13
Had the experience of this happening at an airport. Paying for additional baggage fees, where they only accepted cards. Strangely enough when purchasing the ticket, I could purchase online with a variety of methods on the airline's website, but at check-in I was told that they didn't accept cash at all...not exact change...at all. For exceptional service, they also did not accept the same online payment method which was used to purchase the non-refundable ticket. I wonder if they would have refunded my ticket if I couldn't pay, or if I would have been unable to travel, or been forced to travel without luggage. If you thought trying to purchase something to eat on a plane was limited to a carded few, what do you do without luggage and a wasted fare? It truly endeared that airline to me and I remember them fondly every time I choose a carrier.
The difference between these restaurants/businesses and airlines is their customers didn't buy anything non-refundable, they don't have a flight leaving, and they're not the only restaurant at altitude. Your customer can easily walk out the door to your competitor and take their business, money, and memory of poor service.
6
On Norwegian Air one could purchase food and bottled water or drinks ONLY if you had a credit card. And they don't give you complimentary meals or beverages. NOT EVEN WATER!
3
Either American Airlines or Southwest only takes cards--maybe that's true for both.
But both give you free water if the flight is long enough for any kind of beverage service.
1
Before the airlines only took cash for onboard purchases, they stopped because not only of theft from some employees but again it took less time as mentioned by others, counting, securing the money etc. You CAN get free water on Norwegian at least a few years ago, it was tap water from the galley, although I paid for the meal package, but wanted more beverage than was offered when I got thirsty, very cheap airlines nickel and dime you too death and sometimes you pay more than a full fare ticket when all is said and done.
And I don't like leaving an electronic record of every single purchase that I make.
I use plastic for big ticket items, but paying for a sandwich or a slice of pizza?
I recently walked out of an establishment that wouldn't take my cash. I'd never heard of such a trend until then.
Merchants don't want my money? There's plenty others on the same block that do.
52
So far. In a decade or so, you may go hungry a lot. Especially if the government decides it wants to have the tax paid for ALL the revenue businesses collect.
In the beginning of the paper dollar bill, there was a lot of resistance to the concept. There were banks issuing their own currency, there were many that demanded coin (at the time, largely precious metals) and many that simply did not trust the brand-new Federal Reserve Bank or its immediate predecessors. How did the U.S. Government force the adaptation of this new greenback standard? There must have been some sort of legal justification at the time. The blanket statement of "no federal law" just doesn't make sense. I'd like to see some real legal research done reaching back to the late 19th and early 20th century to support that st
3
Credit card-only businesses are just one more way to gather consumer data.
Compile it all nicely in one place, then Equifax it.
If you don't take my cash, you don't want my money. I'll take this article as a pointer to start paying analog more often.
39
the article mentions a few upscale places that don't accept cash, but there are hundreds of restaurants and other shops in New York that ONLY accept cash, especially in the "outer boroughs" that the author of the article has probably never visited. Credit card companies and banks of course hate cash because they get a cut from every credit card transaction, cutting into the profits of businesses. (The tradeoff is that allowing credit cards usually increases the number of customers). As the article says, if the restaurant does not tell you upfront "No cash accepted," then after eating you don't have to pay if you prefer to pay in cash.
20
These places are casual dining lunch places. Not upscale at all, unless you consider a $10 lunch upscale.
4
Interesting, I thought a lot of merchants preferred cash because it is fee less especially for small transactions like a fast food restaurant, but I guess if you can do away with cash registers entirely and thus the possibility of being robed maybe it's worth it.
2
This is an extraordinary attack on privacy and the disenfranchised. Elsewhere in the NYT I read that AG Schneiderman has initiated his 100th lawsuit or administrative action against the Trump government, which he states is the biggest enemy of the NY people right now. It’s difficult to comment on a localized issue from overseas, but maybe the AG needs to keep one eye on his home turf rather than both on Washington.
13
I hope those cashless businesses go out of business.
I've started paying cash again, when I have it. I've discovered that some people are tracking my purchases. Why would I want to give away that information about myself? There is one store that routinely asks the customer their phone number as they step up to the "cash" register. I ask if I can pass on that and hand them my American dollars. They cheerfully oblige. Even the lowly "cashier" understands the evil of tracking every purchase of their customers.
Some business offer a cash discount to those that pay with dollars, typically 3%. Gas stations are one of them.
32
I agree. Ulta is very aggressive about collecting your information when you try to buy or return something. They collected everything but my SSN when I tried to return something. I then started making purchases in cash. So then the cashier told me she needed my phone number to complete a cash purchase of a hairbrush! She was pretty shocked when I started to walk away rather than give it to her. Consumer privacy. A real issue.
11
These restaurant owners and shopkeepers are being very short-sighted, potentially blocking many, many customers from using their services or buying their wares. What about those Americans without debit/credit cards? What about young people/children who are not old enough to have their own cards? What about older Americans, who simply do not want to pay electronically? What about the panhandler who has finally scraped together enough coins? Should these people be denied the right to purchase a meal because of not having a debit/credit card?
And, finally, what about foreigners (think TOURISTS, NYC!!), whose debit/credit cards may not be accepted in the US? I myself have only an EC card (and, like many Europeans, no credit card!), which already costs about $4.75 per transaction when used in Greece, another EU country. Needless to say, when I travel to Greece, I make sure to take enough cash with me--no way would I pay that fee for a meal at some restaurant or fast food joint!
So, as said, this development is a real shame. It's fine for businesses to offer customers the opportunity to pay without cash--but really despicable when they turn away customers who have only cash. And certainly contributes to the U.S.' current image of being inhospitable towards foreigners.
29
I am with Expat Annie on woes of the cashless transaction ideal.
As an American expat in Germany, I am primarily a cash person. I use my EC card for many transactions like grocery shopping (think Aldi) but rarely, if ever, outside of Germany due to the transaction fees involved. I do have a Germn credit card from my bank, but I use it only in when absolutely necessary (i.e. not for convenience).
In fact, Germans are probably the least debit/credit card prone folk in Europe; they typically prefer cash. But I've seen change coming and many Germans resisting. Who will win? It's a good question. But I do not see many Germans making the fully cashless switch any time soon. On the other hand, if one looks at Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden, they've already taken a full affection to debit/credit card usage, especially in Stockholm where cash might work best as a doorstop or book's page marker.
3
As is typical,
The Progressives New Yorkers leave the poor behind
in their rush to be modern.
I would just like to be there one day when the system goes down
and no one can buy anything...save those with cash.
13
What makes you think these businesses are Progressive?
Wanting to track everyone's purchases seems kind of fascist to me, and fascism is the opposite of progressive.
9
I use my credit card for just about every purchase, but I still make sure I ALWAYS have some cash on me. What happens when Visa's network is down? Or the power is out? Also, if a person has legal tender why should they be denied service?
10
Welcome to the future. China has been all but cashless for a couple of years now - not at the insistence of the merchant, but by preference of the populace. By scanning a QR code on one’s phone, payment is deducted either from money stored on an app, or directly from your bank account. It takes less than two seconds. Some of these comments express their annoyance at people who slow down the line by paying by check; here in Shanghai the same feeling is not uncommon when it comes to people who pay by cash.
2
Two different definitions of 'cashless'. It's one thing to prefer a payment method, and quite another to have no contingency in place if it fails. The smart money is on the future for those who bothered to have a plan b.
5
I'm totally against this trend, even though I almost never use cash. I love Sweetgreen, which has recently gone cashless, and pay with their app because it's convenient for me. However, on two occasions the person in line in front of me had no credit card and was unable to pay. The first time another patron stepped up and paid for their meal with a card in exchange for cash, and the second time I did the same. The policy seems exclusionary — anyone with money in hand should be able to buy what's for sale.
33
What if your phone is stolen? Or misplaced? Or broken? Or the battery is dead? How do you pay for stuff?
9
Hmmmm -I use my debit card a lot. But I also pay for a lot of things in cash -particularly food and groceries. I can understand an establishment not taking a check, but not taking cash? I would find another place to eat. By the way - look to Puerto Rico for an example of what happens without power for an extended period of time. You lose the ability to pump gas and make purchases with a credit or debit card. People were standing in line for hours trying to get cash. It happens folks -I always have some cash on hand.
54
As if in a place where people pay their federal taxes and pay their bills (and the government isn't bankrupt), power problems can't be repaired and backup generators don't exist. As if green energy isn't becoming more and more common, so solar panels and generators are going to help greatly in mitigating power outages. (See Tony Seba commentary on the web, re green energy growth due to economics).
It cuts both ways: I’ve been in places that only take cash, or the credit card system was down, and me with only a credit card to buy with. Walked out empty-handed.
I concur with the comment about not using debit cards, they give unscrupulous people direct access to you bank account. Use only credit cards, which limits your liability if stolen and used. Or, use the debit card on a bank account with only a small balance that you monitor closely.
I do like PayPal and Apple Pay. While the charge may go on my credit card, an itemized record of what I actually buy does not get sent to the card issuer. Most privacy, least risk.
6
I don't trust PayPal. Their fraud policies are lax.
3
Mixed feelings. I know several storekeepers who have been robbed and at least one who's been shot. The less cash in the store, the less temptation to commit these crimes.
OTOH, when I'm downtown and have to buy something small -- a quick snack, some small office supply -- I go to the cash stores. It is maddening, standing in line behind people while they slowly punch buttons on a machine, then wait because the machine doesn't read the card (or the card is no good to start with) and they do it over again, then wait for the connection and approval, then the scene when they're told it's no good and can't buy verything they brought to the cashier, then they slowly decide what they want to not buy. Then they begin punching again... At a cash store, I grab my chocolate bar, put it on the counter with the right change or a dollar bill, and go my way. The two-block walk to the cash store is less frustrating and in fact faster.
9
What do these places do when: 1) the power is out, and 2) the payments systems are down? Ever been in a gas line during a power outage when most gasoline stations don't have backup generators? Guess what they take for payment. Right: cold, hard cash. No checks, credit cards, phones, watches or debit cards. It would be funny to see a cash flash mob at one of these places with dozens of people paying with cash.
14
How does a gas station pump gas without power?
I have counted—accurately and speedily—cash drawers for busy Manhattan restaurants, likely to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. The idea that this process is "fundamentally demoralizing" (as stated by the brass at Dos Toros) to the restaurant staff is ludicrous. My experience—and gut—tell me that people simply can't count well anymore.
60
There are times when the cashier will start entering things in the register and I will just tell them the amount of change that I should get back. Exercising your mind, even if it's for simple arithmetic, keeps you sharp when you're old.
11
I really don't see the big deal. I get more annoyed when a business doesn't accept cards/cashless...I just stop going (or do without), and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
2
If the power fails and cash is not accepted, how does one buy flashlight batteries?
10
The last flashlight I bought was on Amazon and it has a Lithium-Ion battery built in. There's a Micro-USB port for charging the batter and the run-time is 6 hours on the medium setting. Max setting is 900 lumens (good for defensively blinding an attacker). I imagine the low setting is probably 12 hours of runtime.
These "hip" businesses are discriminating against people who cannot get a credit card. If I walk into a business, and see that it only accepts credit cards, I won't patronize it.
55
People can also get debit cards or prepaid cards.
2
This is very worrisome. If you have money, you ought to be able to use it for day-to-day transactions. Our dependence on credit cards and our dependence on smart phones are both alarming. Your reporter can joke that the "unbanked" won't want to buy those pricey treats anyway, but this is just one end of the wedge driving inequality. Those who aren't blessed by the credit companies for having the right credit--and the right buying habits--and those who can't afford smart phones and data plans will find themselves with fewer and fewer options. If money isn't always money, it ought to be.
39
“The King is dead...long live the King.”
2
Given the relentlessness with which credit card companies have added rewards to card-holders, I don't understand why anyone wants to pay cash anymore. 5% back on Amazon purchases, 3% on gas, 1.5% on anything at all ... it adds up quickly.
Last year, with no change in purchasing, I made back over $500 in these rewards. And that's *after* the yearly fee to AmEx (6% back on groceries!)
People with decent credit who are still paying with cash are leaving money on the table.
3
This is true, but the other side of that is that we’re all laying higher prices to cover the pretty hefty fees that these credit card companies are charging the stores we shop at.
14
Rewards cards cause people to spend more.
9
Perhaps you should be asking yourself why any business would be consistently paying you to spend money, how are they getting it back and a profit?
4
In 1989 I was in the San Francisco earthquake. No cash in my pocket. ATM's didn't work. communications were down. Sure that was nearly 20 years ago, but I learned the importance of always having cash.
Now I always carry at least $100 in various denominations, because in an emergency, cash will always be accepted.
21
Here in hurricane country most people have cash when a storm approaches. The banks even remind people that their ATM machines won't work or that even the bank could be shut down.
15
I remember quite clearly a comedy skit by Mike Nichols and Elaine May on either the old Steve Allen or Sid Caesar variety show. It was set "somewhere" in the not-too-far-distant future. Nichols was a customer at a checkout counter, May the cashier. A $20 bill was handed over to pay for the items purchased and May took it with a confused look on her face. She turned the piece of paper over several times and asked Nichols, "What is this?"
"Cash," he said.
"What do you do with it?" May asked.
"Well, I'm trying to pay for my things," Nichols replied.
"With this? Don't you have a credit card?" (Debit cards had not been thought of 60 or so years ago.)
The skit went back and forth like this for several minutes. Now, comedy has become not-so-funny reality, at least to those of us who used to cherish the heft and feel of the occasional silver dollar in our pockets. But cartwheels, as some called them, were hard on the thin cloth of a pocket and a credit card allows you to have the equivalent of thousands of dollars in your wallet, much more buying power than it could hold in even $100 bills.
I use my credit card about as often as I pay cash, perhaps even more, and especially so for larger purchases. An added bonus is my card builds up a cash rebate equal to 1.5% of my purchases. It is amazing how quickly that can add up. Of course, if the monthly statement is not paid in full, interest can wipe out months of accumulated cash. Prompt payment in full is essential.
1
"...a credit card allows you to have the equivalent of thousands of dollars in your wallet..."
And not a dime to your name.
7
Gus, that is the situation for an unfortunately large number of card holders.
I knew a man in Eugene, OR, who gave up trying to handle a checking account because, he said, "If I have an unwritten check in my checkbook, in my mind I must have money in the bank." Balancing his account was a non-starter for this man. The check register was, if not exactly blank, the mess of figures scribbled in it were as meaningless as Sanskrit is to a cat.
Disciplined use of a credit account is not easy, granted. If you lack self-discipline, it is a ticking bomb in your hip pocket.
2
What about the contention that shoppers spend less overall when they pay with cash rather than credit/debit? Something about physically handling the bills, increases the conscious awareness of the money flowing out and inhibits the pace accordingly. A 25-30% difference is the reduction I remember seeing. When you don't touch and see the cash, it seems like free money. Any thoughts, anyone?
34
My thoughts: people should control their own spending. One or two days without food won't kill anybody, but it will teach them to grow up and take responsibility for themselves.
A debit card takes money right out of your checking account if you set it up that way. It's exactly the same as using cash.
People need to grow up.
1
Agreed!
Strangely enough, I can think of millions of people who would be killed by "one or two days without food". You may have passed some of them at your local grocery or pharmacy. But alas, we seem to be in a time where if it doesn't impact you, you can't imagine that it could impact someone else.
Before you equate a debit card to cash, and put the onus on setting it up correctly, you should realize the terms and agreements you sign include a list of fees for use. You don't get to alter those fees, and unless you're in a handful of states where they're restricted by law, you're very unlikely to avoid them all. What fee do you get charged for spending cash? Perhaps as the grown-up in the room, you should try negotiating those fees and policies with your bank or card provider. Your banker may tear up their fees and conditions for their one customer who believes a debit card is a no-fee cash equivalent.
But I thought it was printed on US currency: For all debts, public and private?
4
I think the rationalization is that U.S. "money value" is legal tender. Not all its manifestations are legal tender. A card purchase is eventually settled by transferring value denominated in U.S. "value" from one person to another. Presumably, the businesses who accept U.S. cards would reject cards that transfer foreign "value", e.g. British pounds.
The homeless and those without credit or a bank account - many people - would be excluded from buying a simple meal or coffee if this continues.
22
We all know where this is going, total and complete tyranny.
Electronic money 'only' is not only controlling but extortion. A way of overseeing your entire money trail, electronically. Watch out, here we go.
Bit coin is seemingly starting to look better.
18
Wait, bitcoin isn't coin. It's bits - totally traceable.
Old people here (older than I) remember the days of real SILVER coin jingling as you made the day's purchases. Even dollar bills were "silver certificates" guaranteeing precious metal to the holder. When I was a boy the silver crisis erupted and the government had to remove the silver from the coinage.
I became a coin collector.
1
So now if I give a homeless person 10 dollars to buy a meal (which I am fortunate to be able to do frequently), she/he won't be able to eat at a nearby establishment, and have to wander the area looking for a place that still accepts cash?
Does it mean I will have to go with them and use my credit card, or will Visa, as part of it's $10,000 "reward", plan to distribute free 5 dollar debit cards that can be given to the homeless in lieu of cash?
Just wondering......
33
@AWG: Your empathetic and touching comment apparently slipped past the moderators' attention and missed its deserved "Readers'/NYC Picks" five star rating;" there you go. *****
Kindness...In a country in which you can be anything, be kind.
4
AWG:. The credit card reward plan for $5 to $10 debit cards is a great idea.
At the next big blackout, cash will be popular everywhere again. We still live in the physical world.
23
I like paying with cash. I hope I can in the future.
14
A New York City business that doesn't take cash is doing what New York does best...be incredibly classist! What about people who don't have access to bank accounts or credit? Now they can't buy a salad? What about people who just don't want a record of everything they have ever shelled out for? I don't want to live in a world that is so capitalist, there's not even time to count my money that I need to survive in it.
23
they can use their debit card to preload a debit card. not actually a big deal.
1
Thank you!
Sorry-meant they can use their CASH to preload a debit card.
You can also use cash to buy a Visa gift card to use in places that don't accept cash.
Handling money costs money. Only accepting cards costs less money. That's why businesses do it. The fee from the card companies is passed on to the consumer.
In Sweden we use Swish and iZettle to pay for all types of things everywhere. Swish provides a card reader for clients to connect via Bluetooth to the phone app..
I almost think soon we'll see the huge influx of "Gypsies" - basically "professional beggars" (outside every grocery store from Stockholm to the smallest little villages) who have invaded here over the last 5 years from Rumania using these types of payment services - as I rarely carry cash anymore. BUT, crazy thing is, I was in Germany and it was the opposite - no cards - cash only!? I was dumbfounded when the bartender said "no cards - cash only". So it's a strange mix of options going on. Look at China where people pay with the phone app Weibo which seems to connect everything.
1
What happens when the power goes out?
4
Germany survived the Nazis. They know better.
4
One might think that businesses would like to have as many ways as possible to take their customers' money...
3
But will they take my check?
2
Guess what, all you "cutting edge" millenials . . .
Cash . . . doesn't break.
Cash . . . gets you that tow in the middle of the night
Cash . . . is still useful during a power failure
Cash . . . causes you to spend less (tested - 30% on average)
Cash . . . keeps companies from tracking your every movement.
There should be a law that requires people to accept cash. Until there is, if they don't want currency, they can shove whatever they are trying to sell me.
Their competitor will still take my sawbuck.
122
"There should be a law that requires people to accept cash."
What would that "law" say about a business charging a fee if you pay with cash?
1
How about a balanced perspective?
Cash can be lost, stolen, and destroyed. Cash is dirty (germy) once handled by several people. A credit card can be replaced for free if the bank is notified promptly, or by law the maximum penalty for a credit card problem like fraud is $50.
Every sane tow operator these days will take a credit/debit card. Backup generators are becoming far more common to prevent long power outages. I have one for my house -- fully automatic and I never lose power for more than about 30 seconds until it kicks on. So how hard can it be for a competent business?
Self discipline can control spendng -- cash isn't required. Cash can help people and businesses evade paying required taxes.
It's not even close to a one-sided advantage for cash, if looked at objectively.
4
Only a few gas stations had backup generators in our last outage and those generators went to run the pumps, not the payment systems. So it was cash only. A lot of those generators also spew out emissions exceeding what we allow for cars. I have a neighbor with a noisy diesel generator that gets used from time to time and I hate the noise pollution it makes and don't want to be downwind of the thing. I remember when we had a widespread power outage and the supermarket was doing everything by cash with no power to the registers. Any emergency power was going to the refrigerators so that food wouldn't spoil.
Today at the movies, I and a long line waited as a woman carefully paid for her movie tickets with cash--first the $20 bill, then the ones, then the coins. She was completely oblivious to the long line behind her. The only thing worse is someone writing a check.
If, as the cashier is totally up your purchase, you don't have your card already out, you should be sent to the back of the line. No cash, no checks, and no unprepared dimwits.
2
@Honeybee: slow down, there is but one speed race in town...that to the cemetery...and we are all in it.
19
When you get elected "transaction king", people might listen to you go on about life's difficulties. Until then, it's "totalling".
8
The reason you were in a long line was the theater not paying more workers to sell tickets, not because one person was paying in cash. Hey, why didn't you buy your ticket online and pay the $3 fee for not standing in line and requiring the theater pay a ticket seller???
13
What could possibly go wrong?
15
Object lesson - all US Navy submarines still have paper charts that back up the inertial and satellite navigation systems. Why?
They don't break.
Visa wants their commissions on everything. Idiotic companies go along and give them 3%. They hope it's less than what they assume their cashiers are stealing.
34
Is our data safe with credit card companies?
I do not believe so, and I doubt many others do.
Is it the business of the rest of the world if I buy a beer with lunch, hemorrhoid creme, anal lube or a pregnancy test?
This violates our right to privacy. We should protect our privacy by insisting on using cash. At the same time we should demand legal requirements of the credit card companies, that this information is never shared, not even with the government without our being informed of each specific inquiry, and expires.
In the dystopian future we are knowingly hurtling towards, will inconvenient citizens simply be extra judiciously turned off? Remember, visa and mastercard turned off payments to wikileaks when the pentagon papers came out, with no legal basis when they did it. This is not about convenience, this is about Orwell's worst fears coming true a half century later.
That fact that "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" was most famously said by Goebbels should be enough for us today but alas it's not. As we should well know there is always mission-creep, and we cannot trust our governments.
45
Your data is absolutely as secure as Equifax can make it. No need to worry.
12
I recently had an eye exam at a local branch of Eye Mart, and they had signs up saying that they would not accept checks. Too busy to go to the bank, no doubt.
1
Was the "no checks" sign an antique from 1975? Checks are identical to debit cards nowadays. Write a check, the funds are deducted automatically and the check handed back to you by the cashier at the end of the transaction. For point-of-sale transactions, the days of "float" and bounced checks are long over.
2
Checks frequently bounce.
I would never accept checks if I owned a store.
2
Since when did cash not count as legitimate legal tender? The comment in the article stating that what is printed on the dollar bill and how the Federal Reserve website states that there is no federal law stating businesses have to accept U.S. cash as payment seems a bit of a contradiction, but what else is new in the good U.S.? Before commenting further, I will have to do some research on that, but I would have appreciated the writer of this article doing a better job on that comment.
And, i would tell everyone not to use debit cards, whether they are now chipped enabled or not. I found out the hard way that money in my bank account can mysteriously disappear quite fast when someone has created a fake bank debit card using my number (by the way, the card number was lifted by a restaurant employee at a local eatery, who had been gathering card numbers and selling them where they were turned into fake cards.)
I now NEVER use my debit card. I use cash and credit only, and mostly cash. So, if company I go to doesn't want my cash, fine, but that credit/debit card only could backfire on them, despite what the article states. Maybe at these few places, plastic is king, but not every where.
14
What I hate is people who pay by check. Let's make that illegal.
2
The town of Yucca Valley, ca, was without Verizon for about 24 hours. Banks closed for business. Other businesses were open, cash only. So if you had cash, great. But you couldn’t use credit cards, atms, anything but cash. Essentially, commerce stopped. Very disruptive. This is a town of 25k folks. We need to prepare for this situation...a very obvious way to attack us !!!
12
No attack needed. It could be wildfires, solar flares, power outages from an earthquake. In my area, it could be a series of snowstorms, an ice storm or an emergency at one of our power plants.
7
So you can be sure that at these establishments, prices are at least three, and likely 5-10% higher than they might be, to cover the fee imposed by the credit card servicer.
And the “CEO” is concerned about the “demoralizing” nature of counting out, instead of being on the floor?
If he was on the floor, he would see this, not restaurant school approved:
“Every day I have an argument with somebody about it,” said a cashier at the Dos Toros on 40th Street, who said she could not give her name because she was not authorized to speak without permission from the company.” That’s what you want, arguing with the customers...or giving away product because customers didn’t bring plastic, or the place whose wi fi went down.
This will not end well.
17
Yet another reason to not live in cities.
6
If I went into a store that refused to accept the legal tender of the country, I would probably make a (useless) scene. But I would boycott all the places that do not accept cash. If US dollars are not good enough for them, let them go and do their business in Zimbabwe.
13
The way the big financial companies really get rich(er) is by taking advantage of the natural flow of money. By interposing themselves in financial transactions not only do they bleed both the buyer (higher prices) and the seller (increasing service charges), but they also collect information on our every move which they use to further increase their profits at our expense. As their money (=power) increases they are able to buy more politicians in order to further their own agenda of avarice and control. Aw, the joys of capitalism. The rich get richer and the rest get.........
21
When debit cards came along they largely replaced personal and travelers checks but never cash. I suspect that some businesses may try to force us to go cashless because the credit card companies are offering them incentives so they can better track our spending. But we're reaching a tipping point where we're tired of being exploited by those who are supposed to provide us goods and services and people will stubbornly continue to use cash. The beauty of cash is that we can buy our goods while still remaining anonymous.
14
If they don’t want my money in the form I want to give it to them they obviously don’t really want my business. It’s getting easier and easier not to spend.
36
I avoid businesses that are cash-only because I rarely have cash on me. Stolen credit cards can be cancelled through a phone call; stolen cash is gone forever. I also hate scrambling at the end of a transaction to stuff all the money back into the wallet and figuring out where to put the coins. I also don't get loyalty points for using cash. Long live credit cards.
1
The US should end the anti-trust exemption that the the credit/debit card companies exploit. Retailers should be allowed to pass along card fee savings to their retail customers. As a retailer, I can reflect all of my costs in the prices I charge - but nit the costs of card fees. Why???
4
Isn’t that fee just a regular cost of doing business and it’s your job as retailer to factor that into your prices?
Unless you're going to make yourself available to watch every cash transaction, there will likely be theft at your place of business if it trades with cash. There was at mine, sometimes significant. Let's not even get into the trips to the bank required by offering cash transactions…a total waste of time. Cashless sounds great to me and it'll be the norm soon. Chip readers are not inherently slow; newer ones are faster than cash. Once again we're playing catch up with other countries who've seen the light.
7
Those other countries have seen the light and realized that personal privacy should also be protected when they make the switch to cashless. Privacy being protection is already scant and being eroded in this country; going fully cashless will only make it worse.
5
This is a win-win for everyone. People spend more money when they don't use cash and instead use a credit care, which creates more consumption and thus grows the economy. Moreover, financial institutions charge a fee for each transaction which creates more jobs and profits. Profits which can be reinvested and create more jobs. Sure, a few people might go bankrupt, but as they say, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few people. Freedom!!!
8
Legal tender is cash. I do not shop twice at stores that refuse it and will gladly leave the items I intended to purchase on the counter for the clerk to put back as a sign of protest when my cash is refused. And I don't go again to that shop. Yet I do understand the plight of small businesses stung by low-lifes who dole out counterfeit money. Is this a possible niche for a counterfeit-protection insurance policy?
6
I was at a Dos Toros Taqueria and purchased only two tacos and planned on paying cash and was astonished to learn they don't accept cash. I was forced to use a credit card. The food was unremarkable, and since I prefer to use cash whenever possible, especially for small value items, I count that as two strikes against them. I won't be back.
22
@AlexNYC: Remember to share your experience on Yelp; enough negative reviews regarding cashless payment policy might effect change.
14
Most of Puerto Rico hasn't had power for months now. In 20 years, the banks will have driven us to a cashless economy by bribing businesses to use only credit and debit cards. And then when a catastrophic storm turns Florida or Louisiana dark, or when an ice storm downs power lines across New England, people won't be able to use credit cards and they won't have cash. And that's not even to mention a future North Korean or Russian cyber attack on the US electrical grid. We think we're invulnerable and reality is going to show us that we're not.
88
How soon we forget the mid-atlantic blackout of 2003. Utilities, ATM and online banking were knocked out, the only payment mode was cash. I still believe that emergency situation was a deliberate test run.
6
In 20 years, solar roofs will be VERY common. Backup batteries will be VERY common. Massive blackouts will be much more unlikely, since the improving economics will make energy far more green -- and at the same time far more reliable, and not nearly as dependent on continuous power from the central power company.
And during that future blackout armageddon, which seems inevitable, old timers will be hired to make change for cash transactions. No one working behind the counter today actually knows how to do it.
2
Cashless policies are nothing new (mail order has been this way for eons). I get that some people are unhappy about it, but I don't understand the appeal of cash either.
It's completely unsecured - lose it and it's gone forever (remember Uncle Billy from It's a Wonderful Life losing $8,000 in 1945 money?). It still can be counterfeited. It is difficult to account for. Bills and coins are physically dirty to handle. Many establishments regularly beg for singles because the ATMs flood consumers with $20s. And carrying around (or more likely accumulating) piles of coins received as change is inconvenient (not to mention trips to the bank to unload it all).
About the only arguments in favor of cash seem to be privacy and sticking it to the big bad credit card companies.
One of these days the nearly worthless penny will disappear for good, and someone will complain about that too.
2
The value of privacy shouldn't be underestimated, especially in this day and age where marketers have access to everything and we are light years behind Europe on privacy issues. Having a cashless society makes it much easier for stores to use dynamic pricing and charge different prices for items at different times of the day, or provide discounts to some customers and not others even though they are purchasing the same goods. For a good look at where we are headed and why privacy matters in this context, read "The Aisles Have Eyes" by Joseph Turow.
10
Your friendly NY Times had a recent discussion about the fate of the awful penny. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/insider/why-doesnt-the-united-states-...
Back in 2000, gold was $250/an ounce. Today, it's about $1,250 an ounce. Did the value of gold go up or did the value of the dollar go down? What backs your $USD? Macro Voices is doing a four or five part podcast series on the direction of the $USD and it's pretty interesting and useful stuff.
1
Hmm.. as a consumer and financial services professional this seems strange.. I’m going to have to agree with the legal tender issue - just because restaurants are doing it, doesn’t make it legal. As we’ve just experienced some large, history making data breaches, I can 100% understand the concerns about tracking and data. Love Sweden and China, but these countries have different rules about consumer protection, money as a legal tender, and credit cards, specifically merchant fees - comparing it directly to the US is like apples and oranges. Good points about homeless and under banked populations, which could be helped/solves with stored value/prepaid options, which the US always seemed to have a love/hate relationship with. Not sure the idea of a merchant telling me how I have to pay is a good idea unless it is a debt (e.g. I must pay my student loan with cash and not bitcoin). Newark airport has adopted this no cash concept for many of its restaurants.. takes some getting used to.
8
Oh, this is going to be good.
When local merchants go cash-less, they will also go Gus-less. I love taking my business elsewhere when displeased but not before explaining my reason for doing so to the proprietor or a manager. If this trend catches on the cobbler, replacing shoe soles and heels, will be the busiest shop in the neighborhood...to say nothing of federal cases. Treasury issued currency is legal tender.
It is bad enough to see self-service checkout becoming more commonplace and I refuse to participate in a wage earning cashier's being displaced by automation, coupled with my having to bag my own items. What next? Will we consumers be asked to stock shelves? Unload trucks?
Gus, flouncing out of yet another store.
26
Don’t forget to snap your buggy whip on your way out. What are you doing on line - you’re putting town criers out of business!
1
The wheel has been around a long time too. Shall we get rid of the old thing?
The issue here is about a consumer's preferred personal choice, and a business's preferred type of customer. Let the "market" take care of it.
2
But, we need to disrupt this and come up with Wheel 2.0 - I'm thinking of a cube with rounded edges. Its not a bug, but a feature.
2
I have spent most of my time each year in a small Chinese city of 9 million, helping Chinese students to earn dual American and Chinese college degrees by studying in English. Four years ago I arrived and started out as a cash-only American consumer in China (though in America I had been mostly a credit card consumer, to earn frequent flier miles). I realized recently that in the last two months, I had not spent any cash for any transaction- food, entertainment, utility bills, taxi fares, street vending, open markets, etc. Mobile payment by two primary channels (AliPay & WeChat) can and do take care of any financial transaction in urban China and increasingly in rural areas. The future is now, at least in payment, in China.
5
Paying cash is a two step process. Hand cash over. Get change and receipt.
Paying by credit card is easily a 5 step process.
Sorry, but unless the article can cite a time-analysis with a reasonably large sample size, cash transactions in a retail setting are generally faster.
And if the goal really is "speed" at the retail cashier counter, then the speed of the cashier is a far greater determinate than someone paying by "credit versus cash."
This article is eyebrow-raising in its casual illogic.
11
Ummm...no.
You've apparently never been behind the person who waits until the total is announced and then pulls out...their checkbook.
Or the person who searches through their coin purse for the exact change.
Or the person who pays with a huge bill and needs a bunch of change but there isn't change in the register so the cashier has to go get it.
Or the person who pays the entire amount in coins.
Those people are why we can't have nice things. Clueless, oblivious people.
3
Duh - you forgot to count all the time it takes to manage the cash, count out cash drawers, & make bank deposits. You got caught up in apples & oranges.
1
1. I never mentioned someone paying by check, which is by every accepted banking definition not cash. Nor is paying by check ever referenced in the article. The whole point of the article is people paying by USA currency. Argh.
2. the SPEED of the cashier matters far more than how a person pays for something, credit or cash. An important point that the article never makes.
You don't want my money? I don't want your merchandise. I'll happily give my CASH to others who will gladly take it in exchange for their services/wares. In the end, I figure you need my money-even if it's good old-fashioned cash- more than I need whatever you are selling to me, because I can do without your merchandise. Thanks, but no thanks. CASH IS GOOD!
33
“There’s something fundamentally demoralizing when you have the leader of the restaurant back in the office, counting, instead of out on the floor,”
Does this CEO understand the meaning of the word "demoralizing?" Who is demoralized? The staff? the manager? the customer? None of those actually; because the word demoralize does not make sense here.
What the CEO should have said is that it is more efficient to have the manager on the floor rather than in the back room with the safe. Demoralizing though? Ridiculous corporate-speak.
84
If they are back there a lot it could be demoralizing because it means they can't count very well.
Years ago, my wife and I reconciled every checking account statement we received. You know, starting with the balance last month that we had verified, noting every deposit that had been recorded and every check or debit that had been made, deducting any outstanding items, to verify that the balance we had in our reconciliation book matched that of the bank statement. It was possible because we wrote checks only for larger items. More than once we found that there was an error, often because the teller recording amounts from hand-written checks misread the amount. But we haven’t done that in several years, because who could possibly spend the time necessary to reconcile every coffee purchase by a card? While I am sure that the error rate that used to be a problem has diminished because of digital technology, I sometimes wonder how many fraudulent charges are made but never discovered, only because we collectively do not verify charges in statements.
16
We will all get nickled and dimed to death. As we already are but worse.
6
"Younger people definitely verify their charges."
Right. These are the same people who sign on for six-figure student loans to attend photography school or obtain degrees in music appreciation. Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees.
5
"... my wife and I reconciled every checking account statement we received."
With online banking, most of that work is unnecessary -- the computer does the arithmetic, so all you have to do is match the amounts.
1
"... there is no federal law compelling a business “to accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services.”
Perhaps there should be one. While I personally don't use cash very much, the currency issued by the United States is supposed to be the legal tender of the country. Also, "no cash" seems like a policy ripe for abuse, used to get around laws prohibiting businesses from discrimination. A no cash policy is essentially a "keep out" policy for the poorest people who can't get a credit card and don't have enough money to keep a checking account open. It'll be another roundabout way to get rid of unsightly "undesirables."
116
It is illegal to not accept US currency in the USA. Getting rid of cash makes sense if you're in a cash business as it prevents employees from stealing.
Then this needs to be made illegal.
What will happen when the majority of businesses go cashless - especially retail businesses selling basic necessities, such as food? Where will the poor - those whose incomes are too low and/or credit ratings too poor to open or maintain a checking account - or who are homeless - buy food and other needs?
This is just another way to discriminate and refuse service to "certain" people - while also recording yet more personal info, via our purchases, on our movements, habits, and preferences.
3
" A no cash policy is essentially a "keep out" policy for the poorest people who can't get a credit card and don't have enough money to keep a checking account open."
Most of those people don't have banks and keep their liquid assets on rechargeable walmart gift cards.
1
I own a medium-sized brick-and-mortar retail business (yes, they still exist, and we're sprofitable growing!). Cards cost us about 3% of our gross sales. 3% of everything we sell goes to Visa/Mastercard.
Our cash handling costs are negligible. It only takes a few manhours/week to handle the cash (about 10% of our sales).
Personally, I would never do business with an organization that doesn't take cash:
1. I don't need to send any more money to Visa/Mastercard.
2. I don't need Visa/MC tracking my every movement. They track every sale, and aggressively market all sorts of personal details to us, constantly. We can even get details about where all of our customers physically go (shopping or not) when they're not in our stores. This information costs us $20/month from our credit card merchant service.
3. Cards are inconvenient, and slower than cash at the register.
4. If the Internet connection goes down, or there are any hiccups in the entire network between the point of purchase and the credit card processor, there are no sales at all.
5. If a company is happy to pay Visa/MC 3% of their gross sales, their prices are too high, or their management is grossly incompetent. I'll shop elsewhere.
243
So, your business does 90% of its business non-cash, but your final comment is "If a company is happy to pay Visa/MC 3% of their gross sales, their prices are too high, or their management is grossly incompetent. I'll shop elsewhere."
You will eliminate cash eventually, if not now at 10%, then later when it reaches 5% or below. Business owners can't afford to be dinosaurs.
.
There are startups that charge less than Visa/MC. A forward-thinking business owner would encourage the use of those systems, perhaps by charging the customer for the difference when they pay with Visa/MC.
1
6. Cash can't be hacked. And if it's stolen, all that is lost is what was stolen.
15
"This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" - That's what it says on every $ bill of any denomination I've ever seen in my lifetime.
Is it or isn't it? How do they explain that away?
59
Because the writing on a dollar bill is not a legally binding contract. Just as "In God we Trust" doesn't mean squat to atheists or practitioners of religions that do not recognize "god". Or are you implying money shouldn't work for people that deny the existence of god?
4
"Because the writing on a dollar bill is not a legally binding contract"
Assuming you're right, is that a reason wherein a business could say that a $5 bill is only worth $3 to them? Are the words 'FIVE DOLLARS' and all those 5's on the $5 bill there legally binding? After all, it's just a fancy piece of paper, right? Sheesh.
OBVIOUSLY, I was implying that atheists have to use credit cards. I mean, DUH. EVERYONE knows that.
6
Credit card only payment is standard for many bakeries or sandwich shops in Amsterdam. And then they only take credit cards that have a chip.
Chip and PIN was a dumb idea, made even dumber by contactless pay. If the card companies really cared about fraud, all they had to do was put your photo on the card.
4
Unless there is a big sign outside stating they do not accept cash, I'd give them the option of accepting my money 'd walk out.
32
Or take a freebie...regularly?
2
All the better to track, log, and analyze your each and every movement and desire. Data for sale and, upon request, scrutiny by the FBI and law enforcement. The future is not consumer convenience but systematic tag & release herd management. No need for you to consent. Do cattle consent? That will all be done for you.
66
Being cataloged is a concern, but you are crazy if you think law enforcement are the ones you should really be worried about.
1
I can't believe how in Earth a business in New York could take such a tourist-hostile decision. Paying with a card is fine for me and my bank as long as I have the good taste to do it here, in France. Should I make the mistake to pay with it outside the eurozone, I will have to pay a fee (and yes, even for my NYTimes web subscription in €). Those cashless stores would therefore force me to pay at least some euro-dollar change commission, and most probably some fee for having used my card outside my country. And that's not even mentioning the fact my card might not even work with all these payment terminals, if my experience with NY City ATM is still true (that is: they didn't let me draw cash unless the ATM belongs to a bank happening to have some European roots such as Santander or HSBC).
54
"I will have to pay a fee"
Unless you're getting your cash dollars from friends or family, you also pay a fee to get cash dollars from a bank.
4
Not true, abo. If I walk into my bank with a check made out to 'cash,' they will give me the exact amount in cash, with no fee whatsoever charged. Most banks also offer fee-less checking accounts if you keep a minimum balance, so there goes that potential argument as well. And, of course, most banks do not charge their customers to use ATMs. Regardless, there are millions of people who live in a cash-only economy, being paid in cash and who are in effect locked out of the banking system entirely (often not by choice).
7
Really? My regional bank and credit unions don't charge a fee to get cash dollars from my accounts from them...
3
What happens when these policies disproportionately impact low income consumers who may also be minorities. Same thing goes for fluid pricing, when people are charged different prices based on algorithms but those algorithms tend to charge higher prices in poor neighborhoods. Eventually this will all result in very expensive litigation. While I don't use credit cards, I use my debit card for most purchases as its easier to keep track of my spending since I can download in to Quicken. On the other hand, I still carry cash as well.
16
Holdups, tax evasion, embezzlement and disease transmission are reduced with elimination of cash.
7
And so is freedom aka the ability to purchase without being tracked by a company who wants to know your spending habits or a government who wants to see who bought certain items.
16
And now we have data breaches in the tens of millions of people instead.
3
Let the market decide. If customers do not like the no cash policy, they will go elsewhere.
9
Visa had a TV ad a few years ago illustrating how much more smoothly a business runs when everyone pays with a card. It's faster. Yes, it was their ad but it is true. Think about standing in line at a checkout line while the person ahead is making a cash transaction. It takes longer. My sister and I rarely carry much cash and we can go weeks without ever using any.
This article clearly states that it is cheaper for the business to take credit cards than to deal with managing cash. Even Walmart favors credit and debit transactions at the self-checkouts. Frequently, the first screen will warn that the machine does not accept cash. Evidently, it isn't worth their time to keep filling the machines. Businesses should post a sign at the entrance so people will know they need a card and should not be embarrassed to find out at the last minute.
1
My experience differs. Card transactions with a chip card take longer than a cash transaction. Consistently.
98
Rocky, that's my experience too - and several local merchants ask customers to use cash during busy hours and when there are long lines, for this very reason.
6
A cash transaction takes almost no time at all. Hand over a $20 bill -- get $12.52 in change. Done. Debit card transactions take. . . I don't know. . . maybe 30 seconds. 1. You have to insert or swipe the card. 2. You have to touch the pad to say whether it is debit or credit. 3. You have to type in your PIN number. 4. You have to say whether you want cash back or not. and 5. You have to approve the final account. Five steps instead of one -- each step taking at least some attention -- attention which could be better directed at chatting with your friend or the clerk, thinking of a new rhyme for "love", observing fellow human beings in the place, imagining who they might be, or just plain zoning out. Cash. P.S. Aren't bills supposed to be "legal tender for all debts public or private"?
5
Another attack on the rights and liberties of 'the little people'. Cash makes us all more equal and has proof of itself. Just with voting, having reality determined by a digital system makes cheating infinitely easier as there is no proof anymore. That's why we have paper ballots and why some, bankers, oligarchs, like Hilary pushing electronic ballots and others want everything digitalized!
32
Yet another way in which everything about how we live our lives can now be identified, quantified, and linked to us. This information then gets sold to marketers, scammers, used by law enforcement or government with or without our knowledge or consent, etc.
164
That's the downside. The upside is all the revenue of such businesses is known, and thus they have to pay taxes on all their required revenue. Government COULD do far more to protect citizen privacy if the government were actually for the people instead of for the politicians.
2
We recently wrapped up a six-week run at the Union Square Holiday Market and were stiffed (fortunately just once) with a bogus $100 bill. Not only did the creep get our merchandise, but he also go $80 in REAL bills as change. That one occurrence made us weary to accept cash only for the remainder of the market, though we didn’t want to lose potential sales by telling customers that we were credit cards only. Most of the vendors near us, when we told them what happened, told us that getting fake bills was all too common; they were more surprised that we hadn’t gotten any bogus 20s (which, we were told, were easier to pass).
We’re a small operation (just two of us running the business), so we don’t have to worry about unscrupulous employees, but if we had to throw that into the equation it would be a no-brainer to switch to credit cards exclusively. We don’t like handing over a portion of our sales to credit card companies, but it sure beats having a customer (or perhaps an employee) steal from you.
3
Ever get stiffed for a credit card purchase that was made using a fake card? How about on a cash back debit card purchase? Not only do you lose the merchandise, you may also lose the cash back, then there are the fees you risk automatically if a customer challenges a payment - sometimes the fee is higher than the disputed purchase, finally there's the risk that your merchant account is temporarily blocked due to a fraud alert while it is resolved. Alternatively, a counterfeit detection pen costs about $5, and the retailer may accept a credit/debit card at purchase.
4
You could have just as easily been given a stolen or bogus credit card.
2
You know, there is a special pen you can use to identify fake bills. Supermarkers use it all the time.
8
Ah yet another squeeze by credit card companies to make a fast buck. The takers!
74
I still remember the very first time I went through a drive-thru and was told they no longer accepted checks but would happily take a debit card.
It was weird.
Now, though, imagining paying for fast food with a check seems sooo ridiculously antiquated.
Perspective's a funny thing.
5
As long as the merchant does not first REQUIRE me to use a debit/credit card & then tell me I am REQUIRED to buy at least $10 [or whatever] when I use a DEBIT card, because, unlike the 3%-4% of the amount merchants are charged for CREDIT transactions, it costs them only a few cents/transaction for DEBIT cards.
In case you've forgotten debit cards were pitched to us by the banks as "just like using cash." Most contracts that merchants sign with the card issuers forbids them to charge a fee or to require a min purchase when a customer uses DEBIT.
Even using a credit card should not trigger a minimum or fee because merchants have always been required to pay the 3%-4% of sales to the banks...ALWAYS. It's not as if it is a surprise. A business plan is required to be successful. A big part of business planning involves the price you charge for your product. Business COSTS + mark-up= price of product. Credit card fees=a business COST and should already be included in the price of your product, long before the customer brings it to the counter! If merchants don't like paying those awful credit card fees, simple solution become cash only business. Hahaha...see how many customers you are able keep then.
So, considering that businesses already collect the %fees through the pricing of their product & becoming cash only is likely to cut into profits, & DEBIT costs them almost nothing, people should be very angry if these no-cash businesses start whining & charging fees/minimums.
3
Visa and Matercard are pushing hard to get into the debit card market in Canada. Debit card transactions currently cost a retailer 26 cents flat.
1
Minimum charge levels are actually against the rules imposed by credit card servicers.
1
Cannot believe there is not one comment yet about this article. Perhaps I reveal my age, but anyone who does not want my cash does not care about my business and will therefore lose it! And businesses should know that a lot of tourists from foreign countries are NOT in the habit of using credit cards for small purchases, that the fees are very large, and a long etcetera. And what about people without credit cards, especially those of lower income or those who have stopped using credit/debit cards to control their spending. INCREDIBLE!!!
129
And when you now pay by credit/debit card at these establishments, you are often before payment asked to add a tip... Tipping was supposed to be for good/above and beyond service, now a tip is expected for just "service", not only for service above and beyond... Making you feel like a "Grinch" if you decline...
73
Absolutely! I used to wait tables and am a very generous tipper, but you earn that 20% on your feet, constantly running around refilling drinks, bringing extra plates, running to the kitchen and back, etc. Why should 20% go to somebody for simply swiping a credit card? Cash takes the awkwardness out of the equation.
8
I noticed that at Dominoes. If you pay by cash, that's it. If you pay by credit card, they ask you to read the screen which asks for a tip. No clue whether or not they actually get the tip.
1
Louise, our culture has shifted and we've conceded that tips are not for enforcing some consumer meritocracy but because people are so horrendously underpaid that tips are an essential part of ensuring the help doesn't, you know, spit in our food.
1
How about the even more important freedom from carrying credit cards?
I canceled all my credit cards ten years ago and I've held all my expenses in check.
94
Me too!
3
Before credit cards were widely used cash carriers lost money from misplacing cash, theft, miscounting, pick pocketing, etc. Carrying cash makes an individual a target for muggers, and shops a target for robberies, not to mention physical harm.
Also, today's cashiers are not efficient at handling cash. They're amazingly slow.
6
That is just an example of the dumbing down of America.
44
Everytime you use a credit of debit card you are exposing your personal information to marketers and big business and you had better go over your statements with a fine tooth comb. Eventually hackers and big business will use this info against you.
7
How will people without bank accounts and credit cards pay for things if they can't use cash?
113
People who don't care about us probably don't think that caring about other people matters in the slightest.
25
I understand completely and I keep putting money in and the next day it’s negative for them putting money in my business account and not my personal account
They will be forced to buy those refillable debit cards you see on TV -- which charge fees to purchase, and another fee for each transaction!
This will be a huge, huge burden on the poor and working class.....
2
And then there's the inevitable woman in front of me at the grocery store who writes a check. A check!!!
But there is a common problem regarding the machines themselves. They do go down, and often frequently. In the event the power goes out, nothing gets bought. We were at a hotel in Santa Fe when a major power transfer line went down. No drinks at the bar, no food, no elevator, no television, nothing but dim emergency lights. We couldn't even access food at a grocery store. No cash registers, no ATM, no gasoline.
Always have some cash on hand. Money talks and card walks.
58
An establishment without a register could just us a small box with cash in it to make change. No register needed. They could use a couple of cigar boxes with cash even broken down by denomination. We have power outages from time to time and you just bring cash along if you need to buy something.
2
I agree that the seller should be able to set the terms. If they want to accept only plastic, only cash, or only hairballs and toenail clippings, that is their affair. I pay cash for small transactions for reasons of principle and privacy. I object to paying a fee to an distant faceless multinational financial company to transfer value to the restauranteur who lives a few blocks from men and I object to have having my most minor transactions recorded. I wouldn't go back.
41
The seller can set the terms...and I can take my business elsewhere!
Let's see how long this lasts.
I would have expected the Federal Reserve to take a firm stand against this practice. That it didn't is just one more reason to question the necessity of its existence.
25
Non-cash transactions are to the benefit of the government's coffers. There's no reason for them to object.
2
Is everyone forgetting that credit card companies, merchant services providers and banks are all making millions of dollars processing these charges? In a city like New York many small independently owned service business operate on very tight margins, often less than 10%. The credit card companies on average are taking roughly 3% of the gross transaction. As the consumer moves away from cash it will only increase the cost of operating for business owners and of course these increases will eventually have to be passed back on to the consumer. In the end, banks taking more of your money and tracking more of your spending habits and personal information that they can use as they please.
150
If the credit card fees are so excessive, then surely more efficient businesses would offer merchants cheaper cards. Rates are negotiated and are often much lower than the 3% you claim.
I don't like the big bank lobbies, but this doesn't make bogus generalizations about credit cards correct.
Bogus?, The only thing that is bogus is that the banks and credit card companies are duping consumers into believing that this is the better and safer way to conduct a transaction. The reality is that they want a cut of every transaction and the ability to harvest, use and sell every bit of information that they gather on consumers. I will leave the social implications to others that are posting.
Small independent business' are paying close to 3% (currently square is charging 2.75%). They do not have the leverage to negotiate better terms with banks.
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The big point missed with this piece is that some people who do not have access to credit or debit cards (not just those who have cards but would rather pay with cash) will be refused service, and some of those people are already marginalized and underserved in a whole host of ways. They may not have a debit card because their community has very few banks or because they aren't able to keep a high enough balance in an account to avoid banking fees. While these people may be a very small portion of cashless establishments' customers, it should still be noted that these businesses are essentially saying "We don't care for your business, go elsewhere." I think that's an unfortunate stance for any business to take.
Additionally, this is just one more way for people to be turned into "consumers" rather than being people. Cash is far more off the grid whereas every credit or debit purchase is recorded and becomes part of the data that companies use to target us to buy more stuff.
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And within your comment is another socio-economic problem: the fact that - - as you state - - there are people who can't keep the required minimum balances to avoid fees. We need better (more) banking services for those people.
Also - to your larger point: a whole swath of the population is unable to buy from the shops mentioned in this piece.
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I'm glad you brought this up. I don't have this problem personally but I have family and friends who've had periods of under- or no employment and banking fees are an issue for them.
And count me in as someone who doesn't want my every purchase tracked. I don't even like it when random stores send me catalogues just because I bought one item from them one time. If I refuse to give you my zip/ phone number/ e-mail, don't do that. It wastes paper, my time, and practically assures I will not buy something from you in the future.
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I don't think these vendors want those people.
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I am more than surprised why the writer does not ask the obvious question: why don't cashless restaurants post a sign about their policy, as that would take care of the problem of customers being caught unawares after having placed an order. On the other hand, perhaps these establishments know exactly what they are doing. Posting a sign should be made the law.
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They generally do post signs but--in my experience anyway--it's almost always near the register not near the entrance, which would make more sense.
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I've never been to a place that didn't accept cash. But I live in a town, not a city.
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One of the article's photos was of the restaurant's non-cash policy sign.
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“If you consume the meal, you’ve accepted the terms of the contract.” Really? Since when does a contract between parties supersede Federal Law? If I insist on paying cash, then that has to be honored. Our dollar is Legal Tender for All Debts Public and Private. If the Dollar is suddenly deemed to be no good, this takes away from the Public Trust that our Economy is built upon. It's probably in the best interest of the Treasury Department to shut down any and all businesses that refuse to accept Cash. That's my two cents, at least.
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I hear you Paul Merritt but until there is a federal lawsuit regarding the issue, the credit card companies will continue to incentivize retailers to refuse cash.
Which is really what these retailers are doing: refusing USA currency.
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I wouldn't count on this in one nation under Trump.
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Silly, it's to the government's advantage if transactions go cash-less. What the government doesn't want, and has been fighting for years is the situ where a cash only pizza shop makes and sells 3 pizzas, one on the books and the other two go in the owner's pocket.