If you own a retail store, should you be required to accept cash? That’s what lawmakers in New Jersey hoped to make you do. Until Amazon stepped in.

The e-commerce giant, who just opened another of its cashless Amazon Go grocery stores in Chicago, has joined other big retailers like Walmart to force a delay in a bill that prohibited retailers in the state of New Jersey from refusing to accept cash, according to a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The bill – which would require all brick-and-mortar stores in the state to accept cash with the exception of transactions made online, by telephone or by mail – was scheduled to advance this week through a state senate finance committee until it got delayed. Legislators aren’t giving up, though.

“We believe that during this particular time, we hope to be able to work with a number of different groups in coming up with various other possible options that will help the unbanked population,” the Democratic state senator Nellie Pou, who chairs the committee and is sponsoring the legislation, told the Inquirer. “If we legislate against it, then that affects their current business. I want to be mindful of how we do something that addresses both sides.”

There’s no federal legislation that governs this issue, so its treatment is mostly left up to the states. New Jersey isn’t the first to pursue this type of bill. Massachusetts has long had similar – though infrequently enforced – legislation on its books. Other states put restrictions on the types of cash transactions certain businesses – like auto impound lots – may conduct.

But the trend towards cashless stores has been heating up over the past few years. Besides Amazon’s grocery store initiative, Walmart and Starbucks have been testing the concept at some locations. Other well-known outlets, like the salad chain Sweetgreen, have already implemented the policy and the idea has been embraced by many small retailers, restaurants and coffee shops around the country.

And for good reasons, too. The accounting is easier. More data can be gathered to track sales, understand buying habits and potentially market to customers. Less cash means less crime. Plus, some studies have shown that consumers tend to spend more when they’re using a credit card as opposed to hard currency. Besides, who carries cash any more? I certainly don’t.

But apparently others do. In fact, even as other countries are steadily moving towards digital payments, the cash in circulation here in the US has grown at a 5% annual rate for more than 2o years, according to CNBC. There are now more than 40bn currency notes out there, which is double the number from 1996. Cash remains the most frequent method of payment in this country, representing about a third of all consumer transactions.

Which explains the growing opposition to the cashless retail movement. Despite its benefits, some believe that retailers who only accept cash could be discriminating against seniors and others whose socioeconomic status means they are unable to own a credit card. And cash is still well-liked, at least according to a new survey from CreditCards.com, which found that nearly half of consumers prefer using cash for purchases under $10, even when they own a rewards credit card. Apparently people (especially men, according to the survey) get impatient using a credit card. Others are concerned with security and privacy issues.

But let’s return to New Jersey. Assuming this bill gets back on track (it’s not scheduled to appear before the senate committee again until December), should retailers be forced by law to accept cash at their businesses? The better question, I think, is this: why would a retailer not accept cash?

Why would a business turn away a customer because they don’t have a credit card? Are the risks that high or the costs so substantial that we would give up a sale? Just as important, why would some retailers and restaurants – I can name names here in my city of Philadelphia – do the opposite and only accept cash for transactions less than $10 or force their customers to withdraw cash from a conveniently located ATM with high transaction fees because they don’t accept credit cards in their business?

Do you mean to tell me that whatever costs they incur (crime, credit card fees) can’t be absorbed or reflected in very, very slightly higher prices? I don’t believe that. I avoid restaurants that only accept cash. Others may also be forced to avoid stores that only accept credit cards.

The solution? Accept both. The smartest businesspeople I know don’t need a state law telling them it makes the most business sense to accept all forms of payment. They just take the money in whatever form.



