In the age of cashless, city mandates stores to accept cash payments

In the age of cashless shopping and digital payments, Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney thinks otherwise. The mayor has signed a new bill requiring stores to accept cash.

The bill, effective from July 1, represents the first time a major US city is introducing a law mandating businesses to accept cash, Mashable reported. The bill seeks to address the concerns around discrimination and privacy.

Philadelphia city councilman William Greenlee, who introduced the bill, said that most of the people who don’t have credit tend to be lower income, minority or immigrants, and it is a form of discrimination by businesses against them when not accepting cash.

On one hand, digital payment is a convenient method to pay for goods and services. On the other hand, there is an ever growing threat to security with the mounting data breaches and targeted ads leading to mindless purchases.