SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Cash is back to being king in San Francisco.
A new ordinance banning brick and mortar businesses from turning away customers who don’t have credit cards is now in effect.
It was a business model that was quickly being embraced in tech friendly San Francisco — cashless shops and restaurants.
Those proponents said turning away dollars and cents was better for efficiency and concerns about robberies.
Some small businesses like the organic coop used to take only credit and debit at half of their locations in places with a lot of clientele working in tech. more
The real reason was to give control of your bank account to the state with the touch of a button.
Denying robbers the right to rob is racist.
Do we REALLY want restaurant workers in SF to handle money AND our food? Yech.
No cash is Orwellian.
No problem. The techies look down on cash as if it were beneath them. Credit / debit cards get skimmed all the time. Anyone who uses quick pay and thinks it’s completely safe is nuts.
Clerk: “…but, why does the bill have brown smears on it?”
Crazy: “YOU MUST TAKE IT!!! POLICE!!
And, WTF decides that US LEGAL TENDER cannot be used in the marketplace?? How did they get away with this in the first place? I know that “the system” doesn’t like people to use cash, for “control” and other reasons, but it seems to me that refusing to take official US Legal Tender would be illegal on its face! FWIW, we use credit ONLY for items that the purchase of which provides no additional useful information.
Yours in recently acquired “paranoia”…
forcibly deranged
@Anonymous.
“The real reason was to give control of your bank account to the state with the touch of a button”.
Also, a cashless society can be used track your location through credit/debit transaction records. Got to make sure your activism is socially responsible.
Actually probably not thought out totally. If you have businesses use credit/debit it is much easier to audit and get your tax money. When I lived in SF the nail shops, donut with Chinese food shops and laundry mats demanded cash to evade taxes. I got into a fight with a shop owner screaming he wanted cash once when the sign clearly showed Visa on the salon door.
I thought cash was “this note is legal tender for all debts public and private” no??
@forcibly deranged, @perry – The key word is “debts”. If you are paying for goods or services not yet delivered to you, it isn’t a debt and your cash can be legally refused. Yeah, that’s legalistic “reasoning” for you.
What about the kids who cut your lawns and shovel your walks? Want to buy something from a neighbor or friend. I know you can get portable card readers and do electronic transactions and such but I still prefer cash when possible. Big Government just wants to itemize your transactions. Thanks but I’ll pass.
Hey, SF, here’s an idea: Let each business decide how they want to get paid.
“This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.”
Refusing cash is and always has been illegal.
I never pay for any transactions except with cash. I use online banking for monthly bills, but if a store doesn’t want my money, they can re-stock what I put in my basket, because I will not bend to their will. If they want my business, they will take my cash.
Claudia–same here, but I also use checks.
The number of businesses refusing to take checks is rising–as is the number of cashiers who look at you blankly when you hand them a check. They have no clue what to do with it. Hello?
Easy.
We have no change to give. Drop all cash received into a drop safe and: Screw you bureaucrat! If you want to pay with cash, you come with correct amount or leave without any change.
That way the bureaucracy is responsible for providing a change booth or customers are responsible for carrying an assortment of folders and circle money. Bills are folders and coins are circle money according to my kids.
Ann Nonymous, yes, I do, too. Very infrequently. Sometimes only once a year. This year I’ve written two checks over the last two weeks. Buying a house, so wrote one for the earnest money and when my offer was accepted, wrote one to the inspector on Thursday. But I don’t carry my checkbook, so it’s a special case when I write one.
JDHasty, I carry assortment of folders and coin purses for the circle money!
I like coins. Big ones. In Australia the pocket money is HUGE. I believe it’s due to the state of inebriation so easily achieved and sustained in that nation.
In the US, you pull out a wad of bills that are all the same size, color, and shape. Easy to overspend. In Oz, you pull out a fistful of metal. No coin is smaller than a giant 50 cent piece. You can be blind drunk and feel the coins to pay the right amount.
It also makes crime more difficult. You wanna’ run down the street with 300 pounds of metal in your bag?
How much does sidewalk poop cost in SF?
“This note legal tender for all debts public and private.”