New York Requires Retailers to Accept Cash Payments

New York Attorney General Letitia James reminded New Yorkers Friday (March 20) that a new law requires stores throughout the state to allow customers to pay in cash.

While sharing this reminder in a consumer alert, James also invited New Yorkers to submit a complaint to the Office of the Attorney General if they believe a store is violating the law.

“Businesses cannot deny New Yorkers access to necessities like food and clothing by refusing to take cash, or charging shoppers more for paying in cash,” James said in the alert. “I will not hesitate to enforce this law to protect consumers across our state.”

The new statewide law, which went into effect Saturday (March 21), mirrors a similar New York City law that has been in effect since 2020, according to the alert.

The statewide law prohibits food stores and other retail establishments from requiring consumers to pay by credit card or use another cashless transaction method to complete their purchase. It also prohibits them from charging consumers a higher price if they pay in cash, the alert said.

The law imposes maximum civil penalties of $1,000 for the first violation and $1,500 for each succeeding violation, per the alert.

Stores do not have to accept bills over $20; do not have to accept cash for orders made by telephone, mail or internet, unless the transaction takes place at a store; and may provide a device on their premises that converts cash into a prepaid card, provided they don’t charge a fee or require that the prepaid card be loaded with a minimum amount above $1, according to the alert.

PYMNTS reported in 2019 that backers of legislation that would force retailers and restaurants to accept cash as a payment method said that businesses that don’t accept cash are discriminating against people who are unbanked. The backers of such legislation also worry about privacy and data security in a cashless world.

Critics of this kind of legislation contend that most customers pay electronically and that removing cash makes lines go faster, frees employees from counting and transporting cash to the bank, and reduces robbery and theft.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the statewide cash payments bill into law in November. The bill had been delivered to Hochul’s desk days earlier after being passed by the state Legislature in May. Newsweek reported at the time that New Jersey and Colorado already had similar laws.

The New York City Council passed a ban on cashless food and retail stores in January 2020.

The law took effect in November 2020. By November 2021, New York City had leveled a total of $23,850 in fines on 16 businesses that were found guilty of refusing to take cash.