Amid concerns about the continued spread of the coronavirus, at least one national supermarket chain has begun to limit the use of cash in some stores.
Last Friday, reports began to appear on social media from Whole Foods stores restricting or even eliminating cash payments. A Twitter user posted a sign that appeared at one of the Amazon-owned grocery stores:
The shopkeepers’ move comes as health experts cited by CBS warn that the disease can be transmitted on paper money and the Federal Reserve has decided to delay the processing of dollars repatriated from Asia.
Some stores have designated certain lanes as EBT credit and debit only, as an additional security precaution and to streamline the checkout process. The image of the no cash is accepted signage was taken from single registration line and doesn’t reflect any major policy. As always, any customer who wishes to pay cash at our stores can easily do so. “
Customer reports, however, suggest that the changes may be more extensive. Attorney Daniel Nazer told Fortune that Whole Foods cashiers on Ocean Avenue in San Francisco told shoppers last week that the stores would not accept cash at all starting Monday.
In an earlier tweet, Nazer also noted that the cash ban could hurt those without bank accounts.
Wholefoods says they will stop accepting cash next week. Is this going to be generalized? The unbanked can just starve to death I guess.
According to the FDIC, 6.5% of Americans do not have bank accounts, while 18.7% are “underbanked,” meaning they depend on financial services outside of traditional banking systems.
Concern for these consumers, as well as seniors and others who often rely on cash, has led a growing number of cities, including Philadelphia and San Francisco, to pass laws in the past two years that prohibit most of merchants running out of cash. Meanwhile, a law in Massachusetts has long required that merchants across the state accept cash.
A spokesman for the San Francisco Mayor’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the recent developments at Whole Foods.
