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The adage “cash is king” has been around forever, but the throne made of coins and bills is increasingly wobbly. In the digital marketplace, the importance of cold, hard money is fading, thanks to the convenience of digital banking and the speed of wireless instant payments. The whole situation may get shaken up in Ohio, though, if state lawmakers pass a new bill that would force all businesses and government offices to accept payments in cash as long as the bill is under $500, Fox Business reports. It’s a proposal that stands in contrast to businesses that charge customers extra to offset processing fees from cards, as much as 4 percent.
Technically the Currency Access to Spend Here bill (yes, that awkward name spells “cash”) would require just one point of sale site option that accepts cash, so it’s not going to force dramatic infrastructure changes on businesses that have direct dealings with the spending public. But the bill does ban businesses from charging patrons extra if they want to spend actual currency, pinning fees at a level equal to that levied against credit cards, for example. Fox quotes state Rep. David Thomas, who introduced the bill, arguing that “cash is the basis for business in America. Our taxpayers should always have the ability to use cash in their daily lives.” Thomas also said he’d heard from residents who “may not trust virtual payment options or just prefer to use physical cash.”
The bill, Fox notes, is a mirror of one introduced to Congress earlier this year. The Payment Choice Act of 2025 would force brick-and-mortar retail businesses to accept cash for in-person sales of up to $500 and similarly bars them from charging higher prices for cash-paying customers.
The idea of obligating outlets to accept currency is to help out people who are either technophobic, unbanked, or underbanked. These people are typically folks who either lack a bank account or who, on their own or as a household, do have a bank account but who rely on alternative financial arrangements, including services like payday loans, to make payments. This population, along with some older Americans who prefer to do business with cash they can hold, has been hit by the rise of digital payment systems in stores and government offices, with convenient but cash-unfriendly systems. Self-checkout aisles in supermarkets are a good example of the trend.
In February activists had been pushing a one-day “economic blackout,” that was ostensibly targeted at big box stores, suggesting that buyers should shop at local small businesses instead and spend cash, not digital banking.
But reports note that the movement toward noncash payments has been underway since the 1960s, with examples like a 5.3 percent annual growth rate between 2011 and 2015 for this form of transaction. Other experts point out that many small businesses have swung toward a cashless model for payments — cash only accounted for 16 percent of U.S. payments in 2023 according to Federal Reserve data, and Americans made a paltry seven cash payments a month that year.
Cash-free payment systems are great for smaller businesses since modern devices can simultaneously process a digital payment and keep track of core bookkeeping tasks at the same time, dramatically reducing back-office burdens. Digital payments also offer customers more avenues to settle the bill, and with modern, secure transactions over systems like Apple Pay, there’s the possibility for reduced fraud and safer, more reliable payments. Accepting cash also means companies have to be able to make change — and your customer-facing workers have to be good at mental math. But you also have to store money securely in systems like cash registers, and you may need a safe to keep the money secure at night.
The demise of the penny put the spotlight on the complications of paying with cash. Though the decision was made for reasonable motives by federal officials, the decision has ripple effects: including McDonald’s decision to round up to the nearest five cents for customers choosing to pay in coins and notes.
What’s the takeaway for your business from this?
Simple: if you sell products to the general public directly, don’t forget about the importance of cash. Many people favor physical payments over digital ones, and for some consumers it’s a necessity. It may not be as convenient as digital transactions but through sheer momentum, and lawmakers’ decisions, cash is going to remain king for a while. Well, maybe we can downgrade it to “prince” status.
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Kit Eaton
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