In Philadelphia (PA) last week, mayor Jim Kenney signed the new bill passed by city Council in February — which prohibits policy completely cashless business. The bill will come into force on 1 July 2019 Since that time, the stores or restaurants that refused to accept from their customers as payment for cash, will be fined up to $2 thousand.
But many transactions, according to the bill, will be carried out in normal mode. This is a fee for Parking, rent, require a Deposit for an apartment, as well as in gyms and similar business structures, where products and services are offered to members of the club.
Recently fully cashless payments is becoming more and more popular among many business owners because handling cash is more expensive, they believe, and the digital payments can effectively resist theft. But their opponents argue, what stores or restaurants with an exclusively non-cash payments are «discriminatory policy» towards the us residents who do not own credit cards and do not use a Bank account. In the United States, according to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, in 2017, approximately 8.4 million households did not have Bank accounts.
A member of the city Council of Philadelphia and co-author of the new law bill Greenlee is convinced that all the inhabitants of the city are equal and now anyone with money can easily pay for your purchase. «I think it’s unfair when I can go to the coffee shop opposite the town hall, where do not accept cash, and take your coffee and muffin, but the man behind me, which is the currency of the United States, can’t do that,» he said Thursday in a telephone interview.
The adopted bill will prevent some retailers to promote your business in Philadelphia, in particular Amazon. The company has already warned the city that will reconsider the question of opening of cashless Amazon Go.
Authorities in Philadelphia have announced that they are open to negotiations with those owners of business who will be affected by the adopted law and who are concerned about new regulations, but priority remains the protection of citizens. «Our priority should be the people who live here now who are paying taxes,» said Greenly.
