COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A recently introduced bill would require Ohio retailers to accept cash as a form of payment.
Sens. Louis Blessing III (R-Colerain Township) and Catherine Ingram (D-Cincinnati) introduced Senate Bill 30 last week. The legislation would ban cashless businesses, requiring physical money to be accepted during any retail transaction conducted in person. The bill excludes transactions that occur over the phone, through the mail or online.
“We tend to be moving more towards a cashless society now and there are privacy concerns with that,” Blessing said. “Beyond that, there’s a number of people who are unbanked. Think immigrants and low-income people. So a cashless society becomes more problematic for them, and of course, seniors.”
In Ohio, 4.2% of households did not use banking services as of 2023, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Since there is no federal law in the United States that requires businesses to accept cash, a business can legally reject it unless a state or local law specifically prohibits it.
The bill would allow the Ohio attorney general to sue businesses that reject cash for damages between $5,000 to $25,000 under the Consumer Sales Practices Act. Customers would also be able to sue for the amount of their transaction, plus up to $5,000.
The bill does have exemptions for the following circumstances:
- Airport vendors in terminals where at least two other establishments sell food and accept cash
- Parking facilities owned by a city
- Parking facilities that only accept mobile payments
- Rental car companies that accept a cashier’s check or certified check as payment
- Venues with a seating capacity of 10,000 or more
- Businesses that offer a device to convert a customer’s cash into a prepaid card, as long as there is no conversion fee
In recent years, multiple groups have come out against cashless establishments. The American Civil Liberties Union has condemned cashless stores, citing how low-income and undocumented people often lack access to banking services. MarketWatch, a financial news company, said cyberattacks and data leaks are more likely to affect those who pay digitally.
However, not everyone is on board with SB 30. The Ohio Council of Retail Merchants, an association representing over 7,700 businesses in the state, said the bill is unnecessary governmental oversight on businesses.
“This should be something that’s between a business and its customers,” said Lora Miller, director of governmental relations and public affairs. “Businesses know what their customers want and respond accordingly.”
Miller said she is not aware of any businesses in the organization’s thousands of members that do not accept cash.
“Maybe one of our over 7,000 members doesn’t accept cash,” Miller said. “It’s just very unusual because in the business of retail, you want to take whatever the customer is going to give. … To tie their hands, so to speak, for the future by a state law seems overly burdensome and unnecessary.”
Miller said she is perplexed by why the establishments that are frequently going cashless, such as sports or entertainment arenas, are the ones that are exempt from the bill.
Blessing said he modeled the bill off of similar legislation that was signed into law in New Jersey. The exemptions in that law are the ones included in SB 30.
“As you can probably surmise, these things always turn out to be compromises; that’s how it worked out in New Jersey,” Blessing said. “Not having any options for cash at a sports facility – it’s not something that most people go to on a daily basis. It’s not the end of the world, and it’s not really vital like going to the grocery would be.”
The new legislation marks the third time Blessing has introduced a bill requiring retailers to accept cash. If SB 30 fails to pass, he said he plans to continue introducing the measure until it becomes law.
The legislation was assigned to the Small Business and Economic Opportunity committee and awaits its first public hearing.
