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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 the 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 the 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: 2) by ledow on Tuesday March 12 2019, @03:29PM
I think you miss two things:
a) These shops ARE cashless for a reason. The one I read about in London (a cashless pub) is cashless because he says enough per night in "counting up time", not to mention trips to the bank, and bank charges for handling cash, and security of money on the premises, and thefts from the tills, that he *chose* to go cashless. And it worked. And most people haven't even cared enough because they all have cards in their back pocket anyway.
b) My friend in work, I do a favour form, because he wasn't very techy and didn't like cards and Internet and stuff. He's past retirement, technically, but just keeps working. Even he got onboard with cashless society, when seeing the speed and advantages of using card payments to buy things online rather than try to buy things in cash from shops he has to visit to do so.
That was the point of my post.