Want to pay cash? That’ll cost you extra

[Cnon20]

When Noa Khamallah recently tried to pay cash for popcorn and soda at Yankee Stadium, his almighty dollars struck out.

The stadium’s concession stands no longer take cash. An employee directed him to a kiosk that could convert his greenbacks into plastic. Khamallah, 41 years old, fed $200 into the reverse ATM, which subtracted a $3.50 fee and spat out a debit card with a balance of $196.50.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/want-pay-cash-ll-cost-120000404.html

[ua_guy]

Yeah, it's misunderstood that vendors are required to accept cash. Cash has associated costs with collection, transport, handling, security, accuracy, and being able to make change...it also slows down the line. I can see why a high volume concessions stand wouldn't want to accept it. Bonus if they can make money on their reverse ATM.

[disneysteve]

I'm all in favor of going cashless whenever possible. As ua_guy said, there are a lot of costs associated with businesses handling cash. There was a restaurant in VA years ago that was cashless and it was a big deal but I read an article about it and they explained how much more efficient it was and how much it lowered their operating costs.

I'm much more annoyed today by all of the places that have suddenly started charging extra fees to use a credit card. That's exactly the opposite direction they should be going. They should be encouraging, not discouraging, electronic payment.

[srblanco7]

Fees for cash and fees for credit. The house always wins.

[disneysteve]

Fees for cash and fees for credit. The house always wins.

I don't think the places charging to use cash are also charging for credit. They want customers to use credit because they understand it lowers their risk and overhead and improves business. But yes, some other places are charging for credit which is really annoying since it's better for them in the long run.

[myrdale]

No, this is terribly misleading.

The vendor has stated they do not accept cash. The vendor recommended he use a machine which created the equivalent of a gift card. He paid for the service of creating and loading the gift card with his money. He alternatively could have used his own debt or credit card.

He could have walked across the street and purchased a gift card at CVS or Walmart for no cost.

He chose to use the gift card vending machine at the ball park. It's like using the ATM at the shoe show and then complaining about the fee. He should have went prepared.

[james.hendrickson]

Yeah, it's misunderstood that vendors are required to accept cash. Cash has associated costs with collection, transport, handling, security, accuracy, and being able to make change...it also slows down the line. I can see why a high volume concessions stand wouldn't want to accept it. Bonus if they can make money on their reverse ATM.

UA Guy - don't electronic transaction also have an associated cost? Credit/debit cards/paypal etc. usually have associated fees.

[disneysteve]

No, this is terribly misleading.

He could have walked across the street and purchased a gift card at CVS or Walmart for no cost.

Not from Yankee Stadium he couldn’t.

I agree that people should be prepared but I’m sure a lot of people are caught off guard not knowing about the no cash policy until they get there.

[disneysteve]

UA Guy - don't electronic transaction also have an associated cost? Credit/debit cards/paypal etc. usually have associated fees.

Sure they do, and it's a fixed known number. What I think many merchants ignore is the less obvious costs associated with handling cash. It's easy to see that taking Visa costs you 3%. It's harder to see that dealing with a bunch of cash means employees spending time counting it at the start and end of the day, having a safe to store it onsite, needing to send someone out to the bank periodically to get change and to make deposits, dealing with theft both external (robbery) and internal (employees). It slows down the flow of sales since it takes longer than someone just tapping their card/phone. Also, numerous studies have shown that customers tend to spend more when paying with a card vs cash so by insisting on cash, total sales are likely lower than they would be otherwise which can more than offset the processing fees.

[Jluke]

Cash can also disappear or be stolen - internal employees or bad actors.

[ua_guy]

UA Guy - don't electronic transaction also have an associated cost? Credit/debit cards/paypal etc. usually have associated fees.

DS Nailed it.

It's a tradeoff but I can see where card payments are preferred. A concession stand line, you want to move people through as quickly as possible. An antique store? Probably a different story.

[disneysteve]

DS Nailed it.

It's a tradeoff but I can see where card payments are preferred. A concession stand line, you want to move people through as quickly as possible. An antique store? Probably a different story.

At the antique store, they still have the risks associated with handling large amounts of cash. Of course, some merchants, especially at independent businesses like an antique store, prefer cash because they may opt not to report all of their income to evade taxes. It's much harder to cheat on your taxes when there's an electronic record of every transaction.

[myrdale]

At the antique store, they still have the risks associated with handling large amounts of cash. Of course, some merchants, especially at independent businesses like an antique store, prefer cash because they may opt not to report all of their income to evade taxes. It's much harder to cheat on your taxes when there's an electronic record of every transaction.

A strange situation I've come across along these lines. There is a club which I am involved with that ordered about $300 worth of helmets from a guy. The club received the helmets, but was never invoiced. The club has been chasing the guy for two years now to invoice us and we get no response at all. The club has decided to make a donation with that $300 to a charity (which the guy is also part of).

It seems money showing up on his books from no where is a problem, but at the same time I can't believe it isn't a good thing for a business to collect an old debt.

[disneysteve]

A strange situation I've come across along these lines. There is a club which I am involved with that ordered about $300 worth of helmets from a guy. The club received the helmets, but was never invoiced. The club has been chasing the guy for two years now to invoice us and we get no response at all. The club has decided to make a donation with that $300 to a charity (which the guy is also part of).

It seems money showing up on his books from no where is a problem, but at the same time I can't believe it isn't a good thing for a business to collect an old debt.

That sounds like someone dropped the ball at some point and they just forgot about it or wrote it off or don't even realize they never got paid. Nice of the club to make that donation.

[james.hendrickson]

A strange situation I've come across along these lines. There is a club which I am involved with that ordered about $300 worth of helmets from a guy. The club received the helmets, but was never invoiced. The club has been chasing the guy for two years now to invoice us and we get no response at all. The club has decided to make a donation with that $300 to a charity (which the guy is also part of).

It seems money showing up on his books from no where is a problem, but at the same time I can't believe it isn't a good thing for a business to collect an old debt.

Helmets...as in like football helmets?

And if you received the goods, but the vendor never collected the payment, I think you are fine to give the money to charity.