Is it legal for a business to refuse payment in cash?

Yes it is because cash transactions cannot be traced as easily.
Medicinal dispensaries don’t allow cash sales because some guy on the street looking to get high could rob someone and take that cash right into the shop.

Yep, it’s totally legal.

I tend to look at this way….“money” these days can take lots of different forms. It can be cash, or credit, or debit (as in, funds in a bank), check (again, funds in a bank)...so many things.

So when a business refuses to take cash payments, they are just refuses that method of payment. Just because it’s been around forever doesn’t mean that it HAS be accepted everywhere.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic Just because they have a compelling reason not to accept payment in cash doesn’t make it legal. I understand why they do it, it just seems fishy to me.

Cash is legal tender. I’m surprised it can be refused by a business. Credit cards work over the internet, obviously, but couldn’t you buy an airplane ticket with cash at the airport? It has to be.

when I was referring to the airlines, I was talking mainly about in-flight purchases, such as food and alcohol.

@squigish It’s completely legal even if you disagree. Just like you can’t mail cash in to pay your bills.

Cash, as written on US legal tender, is a valid payment for all debts. When you purchase something, that is a credit, not a debt transaction. Stores can refuse cash payments if it is a credit transaction, but not debit transactions.

What you should be watching out for is extra fees for paying with a credit card. The merchant agreement between the store and Visa/Mastercard forbids credit card fees, minimum amounts charged, maximum amounts, or having to show ID. If you run into a problem, threaten to call Visa and report the merchant. They can have their ability to process credit cards rescinded.

If dispensaries don’t take cash it may be due to the large amounts of cash they would hav on hand and in order to not make them a target for robbery. It keeps their employees safe.

[mod says] Personal remarks and off-topic quips removed. Let’s stick to the actual question, folks.

I refuse cash in the Apartment business for 2 reasons. 1. There is usually one apartment manager who is collecting large sums of money between the first and the 5th of the month. They are a HUGE target for theft. I am concerned for their safety.
2. Twice I have had managers lie about being robbed. One said, “I must not have locked the window and they came in there.” There were no foot prints in the flower bed under the window.
Letting one employee handle that much cash can be intoxicating. Now they know that if they accept cash they will get fired.

Yes, it is legal to reject cash payment.

From The US Treasury
…This statute means that all United States money as identified above are a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services…

In Illinois, you cannot pay for licence plates with cash.

I think it is both to prevent robbery, lack of employee trust, and it does make the accounting easer.

Sometimes even the government itself doesn’t accept cash. I’m thinking of toll booths or parking meters that don’t accept pennies. Since when are pennies not legal tender?

@sferik They accept them in IL! Can you guess why?

@andrew Land of Lincoln?

@sferik Correct!

@andrew Were you aware that the penny is the only form of US currency with the same figure on both sides?

He’s very small on the Lincoln Memorial, but he’s in there?

@sferik That is actually not true. The two dollar bill Features Thomas Jefferson on the front and the signing of the Def. of Ind. on the back (with Jefferson in the picture again).

And as stated above, It is not required to be taken by law, it is only deemed a valid source of payment. That source however can be put into a bank and still represent the same amount of money but used digitally.

The key to this is the word DEBTS. When you offer to buy something in a store you have no “debt” to the merchant and they can refuse to sell. If a restaurant allowed you to eat a meal and pay afterwards, they can not legally refuse cash. If you have to pay at the counter (as in fast food stores) prior to taking possession of the food, then they can legally refuse to accept cash.

How about the requirement of a credit card for identification purposes only? I have a +$25.00 balance in an account. I wish to make an $8.00 purchase to digitally download a PC game. The digital downloads are only permitted within the U.S. A valid credit card is their ONLY verification process. I believe this to be discriminatory, as I will be punished with shipping and handling fees.