Can't pay with cash what is up with this

[street]

I visit an outdoor website because of my passion and love for the outdoors. Any way on that site they were saying that a lot of stores etc. will not allow cash to be used for a purchase. I live in a rural setting but have a town 50 miles away with 24000 and one a few miles away with 5000 people and I have not had an issue paying with cash. I use a lot of Benjamin's and I like using cash and I know it is old school. I also know the world wants us to go paperless but I can't see why a business won't take cash for a product you buy.

What are your thoughts?

 

[walkinwood]

I have never come across a brick & mortar store that doesn't accept cash.

 

[RunningBum]

My thought is that "they" are exaggerating about what "a lot of stores etc" are or are not doing. Get back to us when you actually find one.

 

[RobbieB]

Yeah. It says right on the bill "legal tender for all debts public and private"

A walk in business would be in serious trouble with the federal government for not accepting cash

 

[SecondCor521]

Yeah. It says right on the bill "legal tender for all debts public and private"

A walk in business would be in serious trouble with the federal government for not accepting cash

Not really. You have to accept cash for a debt, not necessarily for a purchase.

But as a practical matter, any business that doesn't accept cash is probably going to not be in business long.

 

[NYEXPAT]

I have experienced this in a number of parking garages most recently South Beach in Miami.

 

[CaliKid]

Sounds like fake news.

 

[pb4uski]

Not really. You have to accept cash for a debt, not necessarily for a purchase.

But as a practical matter, any business that doesn't accept cash is probably going to not be in business long.

+1 https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm

Is it legal for a business in the United States to refuse cash as a form of payment?

Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," states: "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."

This statute means that all United States money as identified above is 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 payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law which says otherwise.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Quite common in some other countries. Some business owners don't trust their employees to handle cash, and a credit card leaves an electronic trail that is easily followed and verified.

 

[dtbach]

Guess you better buy some bitcoin. . . .

 

[street]

Not taking cash might have something to do with less employee theft is what some of them say may be the deal. On that site they say some stores (gas stations) will only take 20 dollar bills and lower. Some fast food places have signs saying no cash must pay with card or check.
All I can say I haven't had any of this happen to me but then I live in the sticks and is way behind the times. LOL

 

[ABQ2015]

My previous dry cleaners did not take cash because they had been robbed in the past and did not want to attract future robbers. No cash, no robbery was the objective. Probably the same with the gas stations and fast food places.

 

[ChiliPepr]

Sweetgreen Doesn't Use Cash: Here's Why | Fortune

Sweetgreen, a high-end salad chain, has everything a kale-obsessed millennial might want: A rotating list of fresh fare, a community vibe in its stores, and a rich social media presence. What it doesn’t have is cash registers.
When customers visit the dozens of Sweetgreen stores, which are clustered (surprise!) in urban areas like Washington, D.C. or Los Angeles, they can swipe a card or pay with the company’s app. Twenty dollar bills, however, are a no-go.

Although, Mass requires them to take cash.

 

[Scrapr]

Sweetgreen Doesn't Use Cash: Here's Why | Fortune


Although, Mass requires them to take cash.

SweetGreen means something completely different in Oregon. Here it's cash and only cash. Construction & Tenant Improvements are all cash. My truck body builder got his lease bought out by a Cannabis shop. He says a couple times a day they hand cart boxes to the "safe house"

 

[gretah]

I like paying cash for purchases also, OP.

Sometimes there are some great reasons for not allowing cash payments due to employee theft and other reasons other posters mentioned above.

Separate from that, I like the privacy of paying cash or using some other anonymous means of payment. Amazon and airlines will track your browsing history and increase prices as you compare-shop. That's one example.

Everything online is hackable. Say I buy cigarettes or booze frequently (which I don't but that's by the way), using a debit or credit card. That info is on the web - whether I have online banking or not. So a health provider/insurance company might one day hack all purchases connected to my name and find these indicators for bad health. This could affect pricing for health care or insurance premiums.

I do my comparison shopping online then I make my purchase at a library computer with my credit card. I find that gets me the lowest prices. I like the library because they have multiple levels of firewalls and I'm there a few times a week any way.

Kmart offers a Visa/MC card you can use in person and online. You can pay for the card in cash, in person.

Given the major hack of Uber's client and driver private info, I'm thinking of getting card from Kmart and using it for Lyft rides. I can top up the card with cash any time.

I've been experimenting with various ways to stay private. (I'm boringly legal - I've just had my ID stolen twice and checking out some things.) So when I moved last summer, I canceled old phone service and purchased a new cell phone with cash. Then I got a minutes/data card using cash also. My name is not connected to the phone in any way. I LOVE it! I get perhaps 1 scammer / wrong number call a month.

Sorry for the ramble, but I am trying to think ahead about what info about me goes on the web and how I can control that.

 

[Texas Proud]

I have never seen a place that does not take cash as long as there is a person.... as mentioned I have seen a few places with no live person only accept CCs...

 

[brucethebroker]

Gave teenaged DGD's two fifties each for pre-Christmas spending on new clothes. They went to the local mall, and returned with purchases from many different stores. No complaints about any "non-takers", even with the fifties.

 

[joeea]

on that site they were saying that a lot of stores etc. will not allow cash to be used for a purchase.

What are your thoughts?

I think they must have a rather odd definition of "a lot".

I haven't yet visited a store that wouldn't accept cash.

 

[joeea]

Some fast food places have signs saying no cash must pay with card or check.

Is that a local thing?
Can you provide a link to some?

 

[braumeister]

Lots of places won't take anything bigger than a $20 bill, nothing new about that. It's just because the bigger bills have a higher chance of being counterfeit.

But I've never seen a store that didn't accept cash at all. I use it all the time.

 

[MichaelB]

This sounds like one of those things that is happening somewhere, but no one sees it where they are. The only business I’ve seen here in South Florida that won’t take cash is some of the less important exit toll booths on the Fl turnpike. Only Sunpass or toll by plate.

There are still quite a few places down here that not only take cash but also give a cash discount.

 

[exnavynuke]

I went to pay a ticket (window tint too dark) in a small town off I-16 a while back (~9 years ago). I ran into problems because the court there wouldn't accept cash or credit card. Cashier's check or money order were the only accepted forms of payment. Had to go across the street to the Piggly Wiggly to purchase an acceptable form of payment... nice little racket that town had going on..

 

[street]

I like paying cash for purchases also, OP.

Sometimes there are some great reasons for not allowing cash payments due to employee theft and other reasons other posters mentioned above.

Separate from that, I like the privacy of paying cash or using some other anonymous means of payment. Amazon and airlines will track your browsing history and increase prices as you compare-shop. That's one example.

Everything online is hackable. Say I buy cigarettes or booze frequently (which I don't but that's by the way), using a debit or credit card. That info is on the web - whether I have online banking or not. So a health provider/insurance company might one day hack all purchases connected to my name and find these indicators for bad health. This could affect pricing for health care or insurance premiums.

I do my comparison shopping online then I make my purchase at a library computer with my credit card. I find that gets me the lowest prices. I like the library because they have multiple levels of firewalls and I'm there a few times a week any way.

Kmart offers a Visa/MC card you can use in person and online. You can pay for the card in cash, in person.

Given the major hack of Uber's client and driver private info, I'm thinking of getting card from Kmart and using it for Lyft rides. I can top up the card with cash any time.

I've been experimenting with various ways to stay private. (I'm boringly legal - I've just had my ID stolen twice and checking out some things.) So when I moved last summer, I canceled old phone service and purchased a new cell phone with cash. Then I got a minutes/data card using cash also. My name is not connected to the phone in any way. I LOVE it! I get perhaps 1 scammer / wrong number call a month.

Sorry for the ramble, but I am trying to think ahead about what info about me goes on the web and how I can control that.

Interesting stuff and thanks. I'm not the only one that likes to pay with cash. LOL

As for what stores etc. I can go back and ask that question. Like someone said some may be over exaggerating but I also see where the business world wants to go and that is not have to deal with cash/paperless world.

 

[donheff]

I've been experimenting with various ways to stay private. (I'm boringly legal - I've just had my ID stolen twice and checking out some things.) So when I moved last summer, I canceled old phone service and purchased a new cell phone with cash. Then I got a minutes/data card using cash also. My name is not connected to the phone in any way. I LOVE it! I get perhaps 1 scammer / wrong number call a month.

Sorry for the ramble, but I am trying to think ahead about what info about me goes on the web and how I can control that.

Having had your identity stolen twice I hope you have frozen your credit. Moving away, hiding your identity -- sounds like a path that would enable the bad guys to not only steal your identity but to lay claim to it and fight you off if you tried to reclaim it.

 

[Throwdownmyaceinthehole]

My local hospital wouldn't schedule a test for me when I said I would be paying cash instead of using insurance