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posted by takyon on Tuesday March 12 2019, @07:17AM   Printer-friendly
from the cashless-grab dept.

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.


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by DannyB on Tuesday March 12 2019, @02:56PM (4 children)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday March 12 2019, @02:56PM (#813284) Journal

    Requiring shops to accept cash does not forbid individual free people from deciding who they want to do business with and how they want to pay.

    If you want to shop at X and pay with cashless, then great! Do so!

    Simply requiring X to also accept cash does not inhibit your choices.

    The government has an interest in this. If cash cannot be spent anywhere, then it becomes useless.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by isostatic on Tuesday March 12 2019, @10:37PM (3 children)

    by isostatic (365) on Tuesday March 12 2019, @10:37PM (#813501) Journal

    Simply requiring X to also accept cash does not inhibit your choices.

    Yes it does, I - a shop owner - have to accept a form of payment I don't want to.

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Wednesday March 13 2019, @05:59AM (1 child)

      by fido_dogstoyevsky (131) <axehandleNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Wednesday March 13 2019, @05:59AM (#813599)

      Simply requiring X to also accept cash does not inhibit your choices.

      Yes it does, I - a shop owner - have to accept a form of payment I don't want to.

      Just like you - a shop owner - have to accept as a customer someone whose eye colour you don't like.

      Legal tender is legal tender. You are also permitted to accept goods or services as barter provided you declare it as income.

      --
      It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
      • (Score: 3, Informative) by isostatic on Wednesday March 13 2019, @08:45AM

        by isostatic (365) on Wednesday March 13 2019, @08:45AM (#813627) Journal

        Legal tender is legal tender

        That only applies for paying a debt. A resturant where you eat a meal then are presented with a bill is a debt and you are legally allowed to pay by cash

        Buying a car in cash isn't paying a debt, the seller has no obligation to take your cash.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday March 13 2019, @02:45PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 13 2019, @02:45PM (#813734) Journal

      I was not referring to shop owners, but to the shoppers who shop there. Sorry if I was unclear.

      Shoppers are not inhibited from paying cashless.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.