Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984
Sorry Amazon: Philadelphia bans cashless stores
This week, Philadelphia's mayor signed a bill that would ban cashless retail stores, according to The Morning Call. The move makes Philadelphia the first major city to require that brick-and-mortar retail stores accept cash. Besides Philadelphia, Massachusetts has required that retailers accept cash since 1978, according to CBS.
The law takes effect July 1, and it will not apply to stores like Costco that require a membership, nor will it apply to parking garages or lots, or to hotels or rental car companies that require a credit or debit card as security for future charges, according to theĀ Wall Street Journal. Retailers caught refusing cash can be fined up to $2,000.
Amazon, whose new Amazon Go stores are cashless and queue-less, reportedly pushed back against the new law, asking for an exemption. According to theĀ WSJ, Philadelphia lawmakers said that Amazon could work around the law under the exemption for stores that require a membership to shop there, but Amazon told the city that a Prime membership is not required to shop at Amazon Go stores, so its options are limited.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Pino P on Tuesday March 12 2019, @01:43PM
Prepaid Visa cards in grocery stores charge a 10 percent surcharge to load them with cash. In addition, the merchant must pay a substantial monthly fee plus 30 cents per transaction plus 3 percent of the total.
How old does the account holder have to be, and how much of a monthly fee does the bank charge the account holder for both sending and receiving money? How practical would it be for, say, a 14-year-old to accept credit cards for mowing lawns or babysitting?
At no charge?
First we'd have to find a way to make prostitutes no longer black-market.
"Your card and PIN or your life"
But a mugger can prevent the victim from calling the police now that the victim has lost possession of his or her cell phone and pay phone operators have removed the pay phones on which the victim would have once called 911.