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Comment by chrisseaton | Hacker News Reader

Where I live, many do not anymore. That's a trend that's only going to spread and accelerate. Hence the product.

NYC banned cashless stores because they exclude the un-/under-banked

Really? Mind if I ask where? As much as cash use has dwindled here in the UK (at least anecdotally) I’ve never come across a store that won’t accept cash. I know a couple that didn’t accept it early in the pandemic (due to fear of covid spreading on cash) but that didn’t last long.

I got a drink at Happy Lemon in Sunnyvale, CA a couple days ago and they didn't take cash.

Was there another place to get a drink that accepted cash?

You're moving the goalpost.

The statement wasn't "there exists a store that still accepts cash", but "many stores no longer accept cash".

The larger point is not to send your kid to that store if they only accept a debt card.

They only exist if you keep going to those stores.

Do your children not have minds of their own about which store they want to go to?

I would think they would go to the one that accepts a form of payment they have would be a priority.

Why would that matter to this discussion? I want x from retailer y. Retailer y doesn't accept cash. I use a card. If you have an objection to using cards, you're certainly free to decline to make the purchase. Nothing in any of that seems like it would be age related either. What's the difference between having $20, or a debit card linked to an account with $20?

Some people refuse or can’t have a bank account. Not accepting cash ends up being discriminatory.

Fair enough. The point about the unbanked is pretty convincing.

I'm sure there are plenty, albeit not exactly the same thing. The question asked for a specific existence proof for a retailer that didn't take cash and I provided it.

In my village in the UK about half the coffee shops and bakeries and things were going cashless just before the pandemic anyway. I think it’s pretty common now.

Genuinely really surprised at that! Particularly in a village - I’d have thought smaller places would be the last holdouts, not the first to go cashless.

The pandemic killed a bunch of business's demand for cash so they stopped accepting it.

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