The New York City Council passed legislation banning cashless businesses in New York City in an effort to make food and retail shopping more accessible to all individuals, even those who don't carry plastic. Businesses have nine months before the new law goes into effect.
The bill was sponsored by Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx).
According to Torres, the issue is simple: stores that don't allow cash exclude individuals who are "unbanked" and "underbanked," terms which by definition refer to those who don't have bank accounts or use cards to make financial transactions.
"The City of New York cannot allow the digital economy to leave behind the 25% of New Yorkers who are chronically unbanked and underbanked," said Torres.
In fact, the Urban Institute conducted a study in 2015 which found that nearly 40% of New York City households were "unbanked" or "underbanked."
Supporters of the new law believe that the choice to pay with cash or otherwise belongs with the consumer. However, some groups believe that it's up to businesses regarding what type of monetary medium they choose to accept or decline.
The National Retail Federation, a trade association, is one of the groups that stands against the philosophy of the new cashless ban law.
Stephanie Martz, general counsel of the National Retail Federation, made a statement in support of retailers deciding for themselves how to conduct business. According to Martz, "Retailers should have the right to choose which payments to accept and to decide for themselves whether going cashless makes sense for their businesses."
Credit card companies would undoubtedly not support the bill either, considering what they stand to gain or lose. In 2018, spending by way of Visa
New York City has now joined New Jersey, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, all of which passed similar cashless ban laws recently. Chicago may be next.
Massachusetts has legally required its businesses to accept cash as well as credit since 1978.
- https://nypost.com/2020/01/24/cashless-businesses-are-now-banned-in-nyc/
- https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/23/nyregion/nyc-cashless-ban.html
- https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/23/us/nyc-cashless-ban/index.html
- https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-23/nyc-moves-to-bans-cashless-stores-in-blow-to-visa-mastercard
