ATLANTA — An Atlanta city councilman wants to outlaw cashless businesses in Atlanta. They became popular in the last decade with the rise of debit cards -- and an unhappy spate of cash robberies at restaurants.
When Ponce City Market opened nine years ago, it successfully sought a younger clientele that came of age carrying less cash and more debit cards. Inside the historic monolith, several restaurants advise their customers they are cashless. Atlanta city councilman Antonio Lewis finds it troubling.
"It says on our cash that cash is the 'legal tender' – the legal tender for payment in this country. I think that you should be forced to accept cash," Lewis said.
Lewis sponsored a city council resolution calling on Georgia lawmakers to pass a bill outlawing cashless business in Atlanta.
Some Atlanta restaurants went cashless after a spate of strongarm robberies victimized staff and customers. Sizewise, the city’s largest cashless venue may be Mercedes Benz stadium, whose vendors embraced it in 2019.
"In the restaurant business, most of our business today is credit cards anyway," restaurant owner Bob Amick said in 2019. "It’s simple. It’s easy. It’s precise."
But Lewis says his bill would protect young and lower-income consumers, who he says tend to rely on cash.
"We can force businesses to accept cash. We want cash to always be an option," Lewis said.
But Atlanta can't do it without a change in state law.
Lewis says he expects bipartisan support in the Georgia legislature to pass his anti-cashless measure. Yet pro-business lawmakers in and outside of Atlanta may think twice before giving such a measure any real traction.