Deleted post (reconsidered the value of opinions)
Remember that this is in Factual Questions.
Even if it’s legal for a business to not accept cash, it doesn’t mean they can only accept Venmo. In NYC , a law was passed in January 2020 prohibiting businesses from refusing cash unless they have a fee - free “reverse ATM “ on the premises to convert cash into a card that can be used at that establishment .So Citifield and other venues do not have to accept cash but they couldn’t go Venmo-only.
It never ends. Recently, on StackExchange, they had somebody proposing to take merchandise from a store without paying, but “with the intent to pay later”, and somehow that “intent” would turn the theft into a debt, so that it would finally be possible to force the store to accept cash payment since the magic sentence on the dollar bill surely applies in that case.
an informed opinion by an educated expert is about as factual as hypotheticals can get.
I was surprised at the DMV when I tried to pay cash for my new license and discovered they are checks or credit card only.
Again, as explicitly noted in the Federal Reserve web pages I linked to upthread: there is no Federal law that states that businesses must accept cash, and further, businesses are free to choose to accept (or deny) whatever payment systems they like…unless there is a local or state law which says otherwise (which seems to be the case in the example you give).
In New York City, such a store may not be able to only accept Venmo. That’s likely not the case in many other areas, which do not have such laws.
United Airlines has gone even further: Now, they don’t accept cash or physical credit cards. You have to add your credit card info to your flight information on their smartphone app before the flight.
Please look at post #2, where I quote the Federal Reserve on the topic. (I bet they have lawyers who would concur.)
I’ve never paid for anything before they hand it to me. So… pretty much all of them. And I don’t know what Venmo is but I’m damn sure it’s never going to be an app on my phone.
Have you never bought coffee at a Starbucks? A McDonalds? I’m pretty sure that they don’t work that way.
Actually, thanks for that; I’m taking a United flight in a couple of days.
Aha- Magiver was talking about coffee, not that starbux stuff! 
Of course it’s not the case in places that don’t have such laws - but NYC is not the only place that has similar laws. Massachusetts has required stores to accept cash since 1978 and as far as I can tell , there is no workaround for loading cash onto cards. Philadelphia was already mentioned in this thread , New Jersey requires retailers to accept cash and I’m sure there are also other state and local laws requiring stores to accept cash.
This article lists where those laws exist (as of 2021); most of them already have been named in this thread.
- Massachusetts
- New Jersey
- Colorado
- New York City
- Philadelphia
- San Francisco
- Washington D.C.
they would have to pay ME to drink burnt coffee.
You have a point about fast food which is an oxymoron because you have to wait on most of it. I’ve actually started buying that kind of food from a local gas station that specializes in making food to order. It’s actually better than most of the fast food chains. And damn if they don’t give me the food first.
If someone’s business model is a phone app then best of luck.
Trust me, kid, thie “telephone” malarky’s never gonna make a dent in the Pony Express.
I, also, have frequently been handed the cup of coffee before being asked to pay. At coffee shops, even.
Interesting that it’s 3 states and 4 cities. I’m not that surprised that starts have that power, but I’m surprised a city can pass that type of regulation.
I don’t ever remember a business professor in college that thought limiting cash flow options was a good business plan.
Basically a city can pass any kind of legislation the state lets it. Some states specifically permit some kinds of regulations for cities and some states specifically don’t let cities pass certain kinds of regulations.