D.C. begins enforcing a law that requires businesses to accept cash this month.
Technology has made it easier and faster for businesses to complete transactions using cards or smartphones, but not everyone has access to bank cards or smartphones
“It's surprising, but a substantial number of percentage of the population is unbanked or underbanked, and so this is really about equity,” said D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, who authored the law.
The D.C. Council passed the legislation in 2021, but due to the pandemic and lack of funding, it was never enforced before this week.
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Some groups have concerns about the requirement.
Shawn Townsend of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington says many businesses are concerned about being targets for crime.
“Obviously, we want our businesses and our members to be in compliance of the law but also take in consideration the times that we are in and that we want to keep everyone safe, as well,” he said.
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Dylan Jeon of the National Retail Federation agrees.
“We're seeing significant growth year over year in not only the incidence of theft, but also increase in violence as well,” he said. “So, now you're talking about the safety of store employees, the safety of customers.”
Fines for refusing to accept cash start at just more than $1,000 for the first offense and go up to more than $9,000 after the fourth offense
Mayor Muriel Bowser wants to ease into enforcement with warnings and education.
“We expect that our licensing department will, if they get complaints, will be enforcing,” she said.
“But I’m going to let the department say a little bit more about what the kind of warning process is,” she added. “Our expectation is not to fine our businesses.
For now, inspectors won’t be going out and conducting compliance checks. It will be up to the public to file an online complaint after encountering a business refusing to accept cash.
The new law allows for one alternative: reverse ATMs that allow for putting in cash to get a money card. They can’t charge a fee and the cards can’t expire. That’s already in use at Capital One Arena.
Businesses that never accepted cash, like automated parking garages, are exempt from the law.
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