Is it illegal for a business in the US not to accept cash?

[hevnsnt]

For some reason I think it should be if it isnt. On the back of cash it says "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private"
which to me means, if you are going to sell something, you can pay it with this.

Well I can understand why places dont want to handle cash, you would need to keep a lot on hand to make change, the chance of robbery, more administration, etc..

For example, my FedEx does not accept cash, only credit cards (not sure about checks)

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: hevnsnt
For some reason I think it should be if it isnt. On the back of cash it says "This note is legal tender for all debts, public and private"
which to me means, if you are going to sell something, you can pay it with this.

Well I can understand why places dont want to handle cash, you would need to keep a lot on hand to make change, the chance of robbery, more administration, etc..

For example, my FedEx does not accept cash, only credit cards (not sure about checks)

If no service has been performed, no debt exists.

The fedex location by my apt does not accept cash either.

Viper GTS

 

[HannibalX]

In your case they are just letting you pay for the service with cash at a later date. By using your CC you are just "financing" the purchase, agreeing to pay for it later. Cash is still involved just not at this step in the transaction.

 

[hevnsnt]

Well I understand the concept of how credit cards work.. but what if I want to pay with cash up front?

 

[AmazonRasta]

Originally posted by: hevnsnt
Well I understand the concept of how credit cards work.. but what if I want to pay with cash up front?

Then you're SOL. How hard is it to understand?

 

[Legendary]

Originally posted by: AmazonRasta

Originally posted by: hevnsnt
Well I understand the concept of how credit cards work.. but what if I want to pay with cash up front?

Then you're SOL. How hard is it to understand?

I think he's in denial about the truth.

 

[xospec1alk]

why would stores not want to take cash tho?

 

[WinkOsmosis]

It is illegal for them to reject cash. They can reject credit cards, cheques, etc, but not cash. We spent a class day on this in AP Economics.

 

[HannibalX]

Stores don't want to take cash because that requires data entry and physical processing of the money. Bank transactions are almost instantaneous and are recorded in a database by the computer; IE - no data entry required or processing of physical materials.

I work in the banking and field and if you want to know the truth companies would rather not take CC's because of interest and transaction fees, they would do everything debit if they could.

 

[hevnsnt]

Originally posted by: Jellomancer
It is illegal for them to reject cash. They can reject credit cards, cheques, etc, but not cash. We spent a class day on this in AP Economics.

Know how freaking hard is that to understand.. Jesus. Thanks for the answer Jellomancer.


But my question still stands, can they legally reject cash? From Jellomancers post they cannot, then how do they get away with it?

 

[Viper GTS]

Originally posted by: hevnsnt

Originally posted by: Jellomancer
It is illegal for them to reject cash. They can reject credit cards, cheques, etc, but not cash. We spent a class day on this in AP Economics.

Know how freaking hard is that to understand.. Jesus. Thanks for the answer Jellomancer.


But my question still stands, can they legally reject cash? From Jellomancers post they cannot, then how do they get away with it?

I already explained it, but here it is from someone else

Viper GTS

 

[hevnsnt]

ah ha.. thanks Viper, that explains it.. case closed.

But I still think they should.

 

[UltraQuiet]

Snopes


Took about three minutes to find this.

 

[hevnsnt]

snopes is blocked by my companies firewall..

 

[AZGamer]

Originally posted by: hevnsnt
snopes is blocked by my companies firewall..

From Snopes:

What this statute means, in the words of the United States Treasury, is that "[A]ll United States money . . . is a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal law mandating that a person or organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services."
That's it. All this means is that the Federal Reserve System must honor U.S. currency and coins, not necessarily anyone else. U.S. currency and coins can be used for making payments, but a debtor does not have to pay in legal tender, nor does a creditor have to accept legal tender. A creditor can accept all U.S. currency and coins as payment, he can accept no U.S. currency or coins as payment, or he can pick and choose which currency and coins he will accept. As a creditor, you can accept checks, credit cards, and money orders only if you so choose. If you don't want to accept currency in denominations higher than $20, you're perfectly entitled to do so (and plenty of establishments have such a policy). If you want to decline more than 25 pennies as payment, you're allowed. If you don't want to be paid in anything other than nickels, you can specify that. If you make a deal to trade your '57 Chevy for six elephants, you don't have to accept cash in lieu of the pachyderms. Likewise, the other party in the transaction can offer whatever he wants as payment, as long as you're willing to accept it. No law says I can't offer you 500 comic books as payment for your boat, just as no law requires you to accept 500 comic books as payment for your boat.
As a general legal principle, however, it is assumed that payment will be made in general legal tender unless otherwise stated. If you won't accept anything larger than a $20 bill in your store, you'd best state that up front or post a sign to that effect. If you agree to sell your '57 Chevy for $8,000, you can't later claim that you really wanted $8,000 worth of elephants. If you advertise bananas for $2 a bunch but want to be paid only in dimes, you should include that requirement in the advertisement to avoid any legal complications. Likewise, if I agree to buy your pinball machine for $500, I can't later insist that you accept $500 worth of Italian gold coins for it.