Anyone Noticing More Stores that are Credit Card Only?

[Divot Master]

Look at our currency, it says "this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." So if I go to a restaurant, order and consume food, and am then presented with the bill, by law they must accept cash as a payment option. The way airlines and such get away with it is by requiring a credit card before they accept my order.

[krupa]

In my little world, I haven't seen "credit card only" stores.  However, I am seeing more "cash or check only" or "minimum X-dollar purchase required for credit card" places.  I'm also seeing small local businesses put up signs encouraging people to use cash.  The transaction fees of some credit cards can kill small businesses.

 

12 minutes ago, Divot Master said:

Look at our currency, it says "this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private." So if I go to a restaurant, order and consume food, and am then presented with the bill, by law they must accept cash as a payment option. 

I do not think that means what you think it means:

https://u.osu.edu/zagorsky.1/2016/08/05/do-businesses-have-to-accept-cash/

Quote

“There is, however, no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law which says otherwise.”

 

[Divot Master]

16 minutes ago, krupa said:

In my little world, I haven't seen "credit card only" stores.  However, I am seeing more "cash or check only" or "minimum X-dollar purchase required for credit card" places.  I'm also seeing small local businesses put up signs encouraging people to use cash.  The transaction fees of some credit cards can kill small businesses.

 

I do not think that means what you think it means:

https://u.osu.edu/zagorsky.1/2016/08/05/do-businesses-have-to-accept-cash/

 

I agree with that and apparently wasn't clear. In a routine retail transaction, the goods and payment are exchanged simultaneously and no debt is created. In a restaurant situation however, once the food is prepared and served to me, my obligation to pay is a form of debt, and if I do not wish to pay by check or credit card, the establishment must accept my cash as a payment against my debt.

OTOH, all the restaurant needs to do is post signage about not accepting cash, and then they have every right to refuse my cash order. 

Edited April 26, 2017 by Divot Master
finish my thought

[Papa Steve 55]

I ran into two restaurants this month that had a $25 minimum charge purchase. I was looking for lunch in the first so left w/o getting anything.

[jamo]

On ‎4‎/‎26‎/‎2017 at 9:40 AM, krupa said:

In my little world, I haven't seen "credit card only" stores.  However, I am seeing more "cash or check only" or "minimum X-dollar purchase required for credit card" places.  I'm also seeing small local businesses put up signs encouraging people to use cash.  The transaction fees of some credit cards can kill small businesses.

I've actually been seeing far less of those. Even the gas stations and convenience stores around me don't mind if you pay for something like a drink by card.

[boogielicious]

7 hours ago, jamo said:

I've actually been seeing far less of those. Even the gas stations and convenience stores around me don't mind if you pay for something like a drink by card.

Our vending machines at work only take cards now.

[dennyjones]

Many years down the road, cash will be a memory.    Society will find it easier and eventually safer to use an electronic media.  While this may seem like science fiction now, the implanted chip will replace your credit card and can be more secure.  

[krupa]

 

7 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

Many years down the road, cash will be a memory.

I think this could go either way.  On the one hand, paying for everything with a bit of plastic or your cell phone is really convenient.  On the other hand, it's also really convenient for stores and the government to track everything you do.  There was a tragically funny story a few years ago about how Target told a father that his daughter was pregnant.  The house started getting Target adverts addressed to the daughter for baby clothes, strollers, formula, etc.  Turns out, Target's software determined that because the daughter bought a pregnancy test and some supplements, she's probably pregnant and so sent out a targeted advertisement.  The dad went to Target and yelled at the manager, went home and was told by his daughter that she was, in fact, preggers.  Dad went back to Target and apologized to the manager.

10 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

Society will find it easier and eventually safer to use an electronic media.

"Safer" is an interesting word.  It doesn't mean one specific, objective thing.  So "safer" can mean "harder to steal" directly from a person.  "Safer" can mean, "less prone to fraud."  "Safer" could (theoretically) mean, harder to track purchases, etc.  But it's a word that makes it easy to prove your point without having concretely defined your point to begin with.  In other words, it's hard to argue if electronic payment systems are 'safer' without defining what "safer" means.

13 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

While this may seem like science fiction now, the implanted chip will replace your credit card and can be more secure.

"Secure" is another one of those words that requires a specific definition.  Technically, "a system is 'secure' if it enforces a security policy."  So to say a system is "secure" means nothing without knowing what your policy for security is.  

For example, my house is "secure" to meet the threats that I expect to face (i.e., very few).  It's not "secure" if I were to store a large amount of gold bullion.  My home computer is "secure" for being a home computer where I edit my photographs, watch netflix, and pay my bills online, but it is not "secure" if I were to process financial transactions for Amazon.

So what does "secure" mean for implanted chips (especially when compared to non-implanted things)?  Well, there's physical security; they are harder to steal than a wallet.  I'm not sure what else you'd get from it.  

First rule of computer security:  The attacker only has to be successful once; the defender has to be successful millions of times a day.  

Who do you think will win?

[dennyjones]

Reviving an old thread:

With the pandemic, the local Meijer stores (like Walmart) are not accepting cash at the self check out.  They claim there is a coin shortage!  

After golf last week, I stopped at a Wendy's and they were not accepting cash.   I've heard it at other places but those two are first hand knowledge.  

[Edsland]

A course near me has sign card only for food and drinks at the turn. 

[dagolfer18]

I haven’t really noticed any stores that are credit card only. However, there is a Chickfila near me that has two separate pay lanes: one for cash and one for credit cards.

[Yukari]

Many businesses are going cc only.  I see most golf courses are now cc only including beer carts and restaurants.

And yes, there is shortage of coins.

[Shindig]

1 hour ago, dennyjones said:

With the pandemic, the local Meijer stores (like Walmart) are not accepting cash at the self check out.  They claim there is a coin shortage!   

Coin shortage is a real thing.  Lots of people aren't paying cash at all (which leaves their coins out of circulation) while even among those who pay cash, carrying the coins around has stopped being a thing (even pre-Covid).  I used to really like it when the bill was $4.26 and I'd pay with $5.01 to get quarters back instead of 74 cents.  I rarely pay cash these days though.

17 minutes ago, Yukari said:

Many businesses are going cc only.  I see most golf courses are now cc only including beer carts and restaurants.

L.A. City courses went to a surcharge for paying by CC a year or so ago, and kept the surcharge when they reopened for Covid but also prohibited non-CC payments!  I wonder if that's allowed by the CC agreement, but I'm not sure I want to push the issue and take the risk. 

[ChetlovesMer]

6 minutes ago, Shindig said:

L.A. City courses went to a surcharge for paying by CC a year or so ago, and kept the surcharge when they reopened for Covid but also prohibited non-CC payments!  I wonder if that's allowed by the CC agreement, but I'm not sure I want to push the issue and take the risk. 

The surcharge for small businesses is a real thing. A credit card company will charge a business between 1 and 5% for handling the money for them. This affects small businesses more than big businesses for at least 2 reasons.  

Firstly, big business can sometimes negotiate that rate down really low. Sometimes they can even partner with a card and get the rate removed all together (See Costco's partnership with Citi Visa). 

Secondly, Big businesses sometimes handle so much cash, that it's very literally a cost savings for them to having the CC company handle the money stream. Where as small business think of sending Judy over to the bank once a week as a non-expense. Even if it really is an expense, often its left off the budget sheets, so cash is seen as "free" to use. 

Lastly, sometimes small businesses can fudge their tax numbers by accepting cash. Technically its illegal, but that doesn't make it uncommon. You'll see this a lot with contract work. The person may say something like "Pay me in cash, I'll give you a 10% discount." There are certainly legal and legit reasons to want your customers to pay cash. But sometimes its because they can fudge their tax numbers. 

[Bonvivant]

2 hours ago, Shindig said:

Coin shortage is a real thing.  Lots of people aren't paying cash at all (which leaves their coins out of circulation) while even among those who pay cash, carrying the coins around has stopped being a thing (even pre-Covid).

This, for sure. Another nail in this one's coffin is the fact that many banks have had drive-thru service only, so changing out coins at the bank isn't happening at the same rate it was as well.

On the initial topic: This is the reason I will never step foot inside of wal-mart again. I went there about 4 years ago to buy super glue when my pool cue tip fell off. Went and got the glue, no registers with attendants were open so I went to self checkout. I scan my item, hit pay, and the "cash" button was blurred out ("odd" I thought), so I talk to the one person that was running all the self checkouts. It went something like this.

Me- "Why is the cash button grayed out on this register?"

Her- "That one doesn't accept cash."

Me- "Oh, no problem. Which one does?"

Her- "None of them." 

Me- "Uhhh, OK. Well I'll just be leaving this super glue here then."

 

I walked out and haven't been back. I ended up paying double for the super glue at a local family run hardware store, but I was glad to do so.

[ChetlovesMer]

25 minutes ago, Bonvivant said:

This, for sure. Another nail in this one's coffin is the fact that many banks have had drive-thru service only, so changing out coins at the bank isn't happening at the same rate it was as well.

I read someplace that something like 95% of all the pennies in the United States are in jars, stored/saved/stuck in people's homes. 

I also read that 2/3 or 3/4 of all the coins minted each year in the US are pennies. 

[Missouri Swede]

4 hours ago, Shindig said:

L.A. City courses went to a surcharge for paying by CC a year or so ago, and kept the surcharge when they reopened for Covid but also prohibited non-CC payments!  I wonder if that's allowed by the CC agreement, but I'm not sure I want to push the issue and take the risk. 

Every credit card payment that I make to a government agency (that I can think of off the top of my head) passes the surcharge along to me.  (City taxes, county taxes, state medical licenses.) Paying 3.5% on a bill for thousands of dollars is a lot of money.

(I can often find a legit way to avoid it. Handwritten check still accepted at county office. Online state medical license will accept electronic check for a processing fee of $0.75.)

[Shindig]

1 hour ago, Missouri Swede said:

Every credit card payment that I make to a government agency (that I can think of off the top of my head) passes the surcharge along to me.  (City taxes, county taxes, state medical licenses.) Paying 3.5% on a bill for thousands of dollars is a lot of money.

(I can often find a legit way to avoid it. Handwritten check still accepted at county office. Online state medical license will accept electronic check for a processing fee of $0.75.)

Yeah.  I had something like that with one of the utility providers at my last house.  For free (for me), I could have my bank send them a check once a month, or for some fee, they'd be happy to withdraw the money from my account on a regular basis.  And every few months they'd call and ask if I wanted to have the convenience of auto pay.  No thanks, it's just as easy for me to set up a recurring check from a bank!