New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed a bill into law which bans cashless retail stores and restaurants in the state. It’s now the second state in the United States to ban stores that don’t accept cash, Massachusetts being the first, enacting a similar law back in 1978. Cashless stores were also banned in Philadelphia earlier this month.
Philadelphia’s ban on such stores came following the growing number of stores that don’t accept cash. They require customers to pay with a card or through a payment app, much like the new Amazon Go stores.
The law that New Jersey has passed does make an exception for parking garages and car rental companies like the Philadelphia law. Reports also suggest that some exceptions are also in place for certain airport stores.
Those who support the legislation argue that cashless stores put people who don’t have credit cards and don’t want to pay debit card fees at a disadvantage. “Many people don’t have access to consumer credit, and any effort by retail establishments to ban the use of cash is discriminatory towards those people,” said State Assemblyman Paul Moriarty. Businesses that are found in violation of this new law will now be fined $2,500 for the first offense and $5,000 for the second. The fines will continue to go up for every additional offense.
Filed in ..