Cash is still king: San Francisco to ban credit-only stores

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Cash is still king: San Francisco to ban credit-only stores

By JANIE HAR
May 7, 2019

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco is about to require brick-and-mortar retailers to take cash as payment, joining Philadelphia and New Jersey in banning a growing paperless practice that critics say discriminates against low-income people who may not have access to credit cards.

The Board of Supervisors will take up the issue at a meeting Tuesday, and it’s likely to pass, with nearly all 11 members listed as sponsors or co-sponsors.

“I just felt it wasn’t fair that if someone wanted to buy a sandwich in a store, and they had cash, that they would be turned away,” said Supervisor Vallie Brown, who introduced the legislation. “We also have our homeless population. They’re not banked.”

In many ways, the legislation is an easy call for San Francisco officials, who strive to make life more equitable in a city with an enormous wealth gap.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/e4e95476e4e74756b3973ed23fa3b00e

[Blues Heron]

1. Glad to see this

No-cash stores are totally lame.

[SoCalNative]

4. they seem to work just fine

in parts of Europe.

[Blues Heron]

5. not if you only have cash - then, not so fine

you want to get rid of cash? bad idea.

[SoCalNative]

6. That's not usually an issue in places there

they have converted social payments, etc., to a non-check or cash based system so virtually everyone has a the means via either a bank account or account card tied to the benefits system to pay for purchases.

[Blues Heron]

7. i doubt everybody's in the card system.

I think people fall through the cracks there just like here, and they're not welcome in your cash-free vision of life.

[dlk]

2. Are They Even Legal?

[PoliticAverse]

3. Have you ever encountered government agencies that wouldn't take cash? (I have). n/t

[dlk]

8. Unbelievable-Paper Money is Legal Tender

Everything is topsey turvey

[PoliticAverse]

9. I thought that once too. But it says "for all debts public and private"...

and before you buy something you don't have a debt.

The prime reason some government agencies and some private businesses don't take cash is for anti-theft/accounting purposes. They don't want to give armed-robbers or dishonest employees incentive.