Money Crashers: Why Some Stores Are Not Accepting Cash – Is it Legal & What to Do

I'm old enough to remember when many stores didn't accept credit cards. Nowadays, by contrast, there are some stores that don't take cash. For some, this is just a temporary measure during the COVID pandemic, when many people see bills and coins as germ carriers (although the CDC now admits that catching COVID this way is highly unlikely). But the cashless trend was already around before COVID, and it will probably be around afterward.

Strange as it may seem, this is perfectly legal. Cash is legal tender "for all debts," meaning bills you already owe — but if you haven't made a transaction yet, a store is within its right to accept or refuse any form of payment it likes. It can insist on Visa, MasterCard, or even Bitcoin if it wants to.

For most of us, cashless stores aren't a big deal. Most consumers prefer to use credit or debit cards anyway, or the even newer payment apps. And even those who like to use cash usually have at least one card to fall back on. But for the "unbanked" — those without bank accounts or cards — a cashless store is a store where they can't shop, period.

So what can be done about it? That's the topic of my latest Money Crashers article. It explains why some stores are going cashless, why it's a problem, and how you can deal with it.

Why Some Stores Are Not Accepting Cash – Is it Legal & What to Do