Detroit City Council voted this week to stop businesses from not accepting cash at the point-of-sale, the Detroit New reports. The new law is expected to go into effect later this fall.
Businesses who disregard the rule will be subjected to a fine.
According to council member Whitfield Calloway, the push for this law came us a result after a cash purchase wasn’t able to be made at a store that only accepts credit and debit cards. “This will help more than 100,000 unbanked Detroiters,” she said. “This ordinance is one step in helping the unbanked become full members of the local economy and no Detroiter will be left behind.”
Through this ban, Detroit joins a growing list of cities—including New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia—who have also made strides to ban cashless businesses.
Cash is Still King
While we’ve covered the acceleration of digital payments, particularly as many countries worldwide are attempting to go cashless, accessibility to cash is growing. And it’s not going away.
Indeed, cash is still the No. 1 payment method in many parts of the world—largely because there are many consumers who don’t have a bank account or access to credit cards. Many businesses are also keen on just accepting cash as it helps them bypass potential fees and taxes they can be paying if they accepted digital payments.
An Endless Stream of Options
Bans on cashless business don’t mean the end of digital payments. In fact, this gives consumers more options in terms of how they’d like to pay for goods and services.
Offering cash, in addition to digital and contactless payment methods, also sets up businesses for success. Purely cashless businesses can miss out on a lot of opportunity if they’re not able to accommodate consumers, particularly the unbanked. By offering all forms of payment methods at the point-of-sale, businesses are able to reach a wider consumer base, and ultimately generate more sales.