Current Events > Cashless businesses are now banned in NYC

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https://nypost.com/2020/01/24/cashless-businesses-are-now-banned-in-nyc/

New York Citys restaurants and other retail establishments will no longer be allowed to reject cash payments under legislation passed by the City Council on Thursday.

Supporters of the bill say cashless businesses requiring credit cards and electronic payments like Apple Pay discriminate against poor people who may not have bank accounts or credit cards as well as minors.

The City of New York cannot allow the digital economy to leave behind the 25 percent of New Yorkers who are chronically unbanked and underbanked, said Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx), the bills sponsor.

The legislation, which was approved 43-3, also prohibits businesses from charging cash-paying customers a higher price than those using credit.

The bill is also backed by Mayor Bill de Blasio and is expected to become law in nine months.

It is expected to put a severe crimp in the operations of no-cash chains Dos Toros and By Chloe.

Violators would face fines of up to $1,000 for a first offense and up to $1,500 for additional violations.

Similar bans already exist in other parts of the country, including Philadelphia and San Francisco.

The three council members who voted against the bill were Staten Island Republicans Steve Matteo and Joe Borelli and Brooklyn Democrat Kalman Yeger.

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This genuinely seems like a good thing.

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Bio1590 posted...

Supporters of the bill say cashless businesses requiring credit cards and electronic payments like Apple Pay discriminate against poor people who may not have bank accounts or credit cards as well as minors.

The City of New York cannot allow the digital economy to leave behind the 25 percent of New Yorkers who are chronically unbanked and underbanked, said Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx), the bills sponsor.

The legislation, which was approved 43-3, also prohibits businesses from charging cash-paying customers a higher price than those using credit.

Sounds great.
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Fair, next. Refusing federal legal tender shouldn't be allowed barring spite payment situations.

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Fair next but imagine using cash in 2020
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Cashless is definitely the future but you should be required to accept cash for any services. In China everyone uses Alipay or Wechat Pay on their phones but shops will still accept cash for the small percentage of people who aren't cashless. I haven't carried a wallet in over a year and a half and its been great.

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This sounds reasonable. I mostly use credit card but cash should be an option. "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" is on our bills.

Damn_Underscore posted...

Fair next but imagine using cash in 2020

I always carry some. $50-100 usually.

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Imagine running a business and turning away customers because they want to pay with cold, hard cash instead of digital money. I didn't even know that was a thing.

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K181 posted...

Fair, next. Refusing federal legal tender shouldn't be allowed barring spite payment situations.

TiamatNM posted...

This sounds reasonable. I mostly use credit card but cash should be an option. "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" is on our bills.

Just as a point here, the "debt" part is important.

You grabbing some stuff from the shelves in a store and walking up to the register to pay isn't a "debt" scenario, which is why them refusing to take cash isn't illegal on the federal level.

However a place like a restaurant, where you pay after you've eaten, is a "debt" scenario and thus it would be illegal for them to say you can't pay by cash.
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Damn_Underscore posted...

Fair next but imagine using cash in 2020

I only use my credit card for online purchases. Anything in store is cash.

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Gobstoppers12 posted...

Imagine running a business and turning away customers because they want to pay with cold, hard cash instead of digital money. I didn't even know that was a thing.

It makes sense though. Cash means you have to have change, it means you have to set up a deposit, it means you have to take a risk at being robbed, etc. Big businesses can deal with this, but your smaller ones can't.
I'm not opposed to this law, but I'm also not a fan of it either

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I remember when businesses encouraged cash and discouraged credit cards...

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PrideOfLion posted...

I think the bigger issue is that 25% of New Yorkers don't have bank accounts. This seems more like a solution to a result from a problem, as opposed to fixing the problem

The better question is, do you think it is "a problem" that 25% of New Yorkers don't have bank accounts?

Do you believe that all people should have bank accounts?

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Gobstoppers12 posted...

Imagine running a business and turning away customers because they want to pay with cold, hard cash instead of digital money. I didn't even know that was a thing.

If you don't deal with cash you never have to worry about being short/over, about ordering more, about either depositing it in the bank yourself or paying a company like Garda to pick it up and take it to the bank for you, and you have nothing for robbers.
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Gobstoppers12 posted...

The better question is, do you think it is "a problem" that 25% of New Yorkers don't have bank accounts?

Do you believe that all people should have bank accounts?

Of course it is a problem. There's obviously a range of reasons why a specific person who doesn't have one doesn't have one, but in any scenario where someone actively chooses not to have one they are absolutely hurting themselves financially.

E: Also the US banking system is absolutely fucked up anyways. In lots of places in Europe you can literally still bank through the Post Office, which also used to be a thing in the US until it ended shortly before the big banks started taking over.
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