Should businesses be allowed to operate without letting customers use cash? That’s the question the Evanston City Council is deliberating. Alan Moy, owner of Viet Nom Nom, stopped accepting cash at his restaurant at 618½ Church St. during the pandemic because of sanitary concerns and the coin shortage. Accepting only electronic credit, he said, helped his restaurant survive. No nightly bank deposits were needed, and it streamlined accounting. He knows and is concerned that going cashless denied a few customers the ability to order food but said: “This is part of a broader systemic issue.” Moy wants to help the city come up with solutions: perhaps paying the fees of debit cards or providing “reverse ATMs,” which dispense debit cards for cash. (Photo by Richard Cahan)
Richard Cahan
Richard Cahan takes photos for the Evanston RoundTable. He also is publisher of CityFiles Press, a small but mighty media company that believes in the power of words and pictures. You can reach him at... More by Richard Cahan
Should businesses be allowed to operate without letting customers use cash? That’s the wrong question. The correct question is why should Evanston’s government get involved in mandating how a business operates? If John Brzezinski (comment above) does not like businesses that don’t accept cash that’s terrific. He can shop elsewhere and others might too (hurray for choice). Then, the business has to decide for itself – cash or no cash – what is in the best interest of my business. In other words, let’s let the market decide and have government focus on more pressing issues.
I oppose the idea of allowing businesses to require electronic payments and thereby refusing cash.
My reasons are:
> Cash is legal tender and a universally accepted form of payment that is trusted and reliable.
> People without credit or debit cards are literally excluded; prevented from ordering. Accepting cash allows businesses to serve customers who don’t have access to other forms of payment, such as credit or debit cards.
Transactions made with cash are less vulnerable to fraud (or errors) than those made with electronic payment methods. Customers retain physical control of their money.
> Some customers prefer using cash for privacy or personal financial management reasons.
> Some people make a point to only use credit or debit cards in an extreme emergency because they can’t otherwise control their spending. Those people would be left without an option.
> Businesses and banks want to track people’s purchases without giving people the option to keep their purchases private.
> Unexpected power or equipment failures can leave customers (and the businesses) with no option for payment.
> Accepting cash payments demonstrates a business’s transparency and commitment to serving all customers, regardless of their payment preferences.
I was on a recent trip and encountered restaurants that I could not call to place an order. Instead, they require payment on their website. The ordering form requires personal information that is irrelevant to the purchase. i.e. my cell phone number, my email address, and my address. I refuse to enter that information on a potentially (likely) insecure hotel WIFI connection or, at all. It’s none of their business.
I, for one, will not patronize businesses that only think about their own best interests, refuse cash, and demand my personal information.
I second your comments.
My paper currency has this on the top: “This note is legal tender for all debts public and private.” That’s Uncle Sam talking. To all of us.
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, long before we had vaccines, one of the grocery stores I shop at decided to stop taking cash payments, to reduce possible germ transmission by touch. I’m pretty sure all us regular customers had various kinds of plastic to pay with. Later, researchers found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus isn’t as easily transmitted by touch, as by aerosol. Eventually customers could pay cash again.
I’m not inclined to want to patronize a place which won’t accept payment in cash.