ATLANTA — As more restaurants and stores go cashless, one 11Alive viewer questioned whether saying no to cash violates the law.
"I keep hearing of venues/businesses going to credit card only payments. Is that legal? On our currency it plainly says, 'This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private.' So wouldn't it be against federal law not to accept cash payments?" Rebecca wrote to our Verify team.
The answer is found with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Coinage Act of 1965. According to the department, "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."
"Private businesses are free to develop their own policy on whether to or not to accept cash," Jini Thornton, financial expert, explained.
It's a decision that Alessio Lacco, manager of The Local Pizziaolo knows well. The restaurant's former Westside location was cashless due to safety concerns after a deadly robbery at a nearby restaurant.
"When we close we don't need to worry about who is coming to the door or if an employee steal it," Lacco said of the simplicity of being cashless.
But at the Druid Hills location, the pizza spot accepts cash or card.
"We start to accept cash now where it's about eight to ten percent of what we make," Lacco said. "It's not a huge amount but still, we're going to make sure all the customers are happy."
Ultimately, federal law leaves it up to states. Massachusetts has required all stores to accept cash and credit for decades. While Philadelphia also passed an ordinance requiring businesses to accept cash, citing the absence of bank accounts among many residents.
"Most people don't realize 6.5% of Americans, 8.4 million people don't have bank accounts," Thornton said.
Atlanta has no such ordinance. Mercedes-Benz stadium became cashless earlier this year.
In summary, it is indeed legal for a business not to accept cash under federal law, unless a city or state law says otherwise.
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