Wisconsin and Vermont have become the latest states to propose laws requiring retailers to accept cash as payment. Wisconsin’s bill, introduced late in 2023, would prevent establishments from refusing cash for any in-person transaction of less than $2,000. The Vermont bill has no such limits. It states simply: “A seller or lessor who offers goods or services to consumers shall not refuse to accept cash as a method of payment.”
Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Mississippi, and the District of Columbia already have payment laws allowing people to use cash at all physical points of sale. Several cities, including Philadelphia and San Francisco, have similar laws.
The Federal Reserve has made it clear that there is no requirement for businesses to accept cash. “There is no federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services,” the Fed’s website says. “Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law that says otherwise.”
In Wisconsin, sports venues such as Lambeau Field and the state fair have moved to a card-only policy. But The Cap Times reported that Brunch, a breakfast chain in Milwaukee, recently shifted back from its card-only policy after customers complained.
At times, this movement appears to be a solution in search of a problem. According to a report in Seven Days, an independent Vermont media outlet, even the lawmakers proposing the new rule didn’t know if there were retailers who refused to take cash. “While several members of the committee said on Tuesday that they had heard anecdotes about cash-only requirements, including at food trucks,” the article reads, “none of the cosponsors could name a business they were certain has a card-only policy.”
Fueling the Movement
Card-only retailing has been gaining steam for years but became much more popular during the pandemic. Some laws requiring businesses to accept cash predate COVID-19, though. New Jersey, for example, banned cashless retail outlets in 2019.
The resulting movement to retain cash has been fueled in part by Cash Matters, a nonprofit group supported by the ATM industry. Cash Matters was formed in 2017 to “support the existence and relevance of cash as an integral part of the payment landscape now and in future.” According to Cash Matters, cash is used in 12% of all point-of-sale transactions in the U.S.
Laws requiring retailers to accept cash are also under consideration in Georgia and Miami, among other areas. States such as Mississippi and North Dakota have already considered and rejected such bills.