A Coin Shortage?

[BrokenBarbie]

So I haven’t been paying as much attention as should, I guess.

Somehow this virus caused a coin shortage?

The conspiracy theories should be interesting.

 

[Biggs_Darklighter]

It's not complicated. If the coin doesn't flow through the system like usual then it creates a type of shortage. There are not fewer coins but they're not spread out like they should be.

Any conspiracy theory would have to be based around the cashless society one and that's coming anyway so no need to fret over it.

 

[BrokenBarbie]

I saw signs at three different stores about it yesterday, two of which effectively said “if you pay cash we’re keeping your change”.

I suppose that’s one way to boost profits.

 

[Jada59]

That's what I heard but... I think it's more a matter of places preferring no contact so taking credit or debit cards rather than cash. I've not heard of coin shortages in Washington state but my friend tried to pay cash at a Walmart and was told they no longer take cash. That was in another part of the state. Walmart here takes cash.

 

[Wat_Tyler]

I saw that and was surprised.


I then thought, it's probably time for Wat to roll the horde and deposit it . . . .

 

[BrokenBarbie]

Probably doesn’t help that those CoinStar machines are always broken.

 

[jaF0]

According to the Federal Reserve, at the national level, the answer is yes. “There is … no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payments for goods or services,” the nation’s central bank says on its website. “Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law which says otherwise.”

And state laws are, increasingly, saying otherwise – something businesses should be aware of when they consider jumping on the cashless bandwagon.


A Backlash to Cashless Policies

For 41 years, Massachusetts maintained a lonely vigil as the only state that said otherwise, with a law requiring that “retail establishments must accept legal tender when offered as payment by the buyer.”

Recently, however, the proliferation of cashless retail establishments has spawned a broader backlash, and Massachusetts is now finding itself with company. This is due to a growing sentiment that cashless retail establishments, while legal, are also discriminatory.

Poorer people in particular are cash-reliant, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco reported last year. The bank found that 47 percent of transactions conducted by members of households with incomes of less than $25,000 were in cash, while the comparable number for households with incomes of more than $100,000 was 24 percent.

Heather Bartels, writing in the Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review, points out that cashless policies could potentially be open to legal challenge: “Although there is no federal mandate preventing the United States from becoming a cashless economy, the federal Civil Rights Act mandates that all persons be entitled to equal enjoyment of goods without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, religion, or national origin. So if there is a legal argument to be made against cashless enterprises, it is likely to be brought under this Act.”


https://blogs.findlaw.com/free_ente...al-for-businesses-to-refuse-to-take-cash.html

 

[Biggs_Darklighter]

According to the Federal Reserve, at the national level, the answer is yes. “There is … no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payments for goods or services,” the nation’s central bank says on its website. “Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law which says otherwise.”

And state laws are, increasingly, saying otherwise – something businesses should be aware of when they consider jumping on the cashless bandwagon.


A Backlash to Cashless Policies

For 41 years, Massachusetts maintained a lonely vigil as the only state that said otherwise, with a law requiring that “retail establishments must accept legal tender when offered as payment by the buyer.”

Recently, however, the proliferation of cashless retail establishments has spawned a broader backlash, and Massachusetts is now finding itself with company. This is due to a growing sentiment that cashless retail establishments, while legal, are also discriminatory.

Poorer people in particular are cash-reliant, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco reported last year. The bank found that 47 percent of transactions conducted by members of households with incomes of less than $25,000 were in cash, while the comparable number for households with incomes of more than $100,000 was 24 percent.

Heather Bartels, writing in the Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review, points out that cashless policies could potentially be open to legal challenge: “Although there is no federal mandate preventing the United States from becoming a cashless economy, the federal Civil Rights Act mandates that all persons be entitled to equal enjoyment of goods without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, religion, or national origin. So if there is a legal argument to be made against cashless enterprises, it is likely to be brought under this Act.”


https://blogs.findlaw.com/free_ente...al-for-businesses-to-refuse-to-take-cash.html

It's too soon for a total cashless society. It will take another couple decades probably. Debit cards have been around for a long time yet I still see a lot of people without them or who refuse to use them. Hell there are people who still use checks. Fucking checks!! They even stand there and write them out! Fucking old people piss me off.
People are creatures of habit and cash is a habit we've had for a long, long, long, long time.

 

[jaF0]

I use checks. But only at places that charge extra to use a card, which should not be allowed.

 

[SpeareChucker]

Coins?




There's a card for that.
I rarely, if ever, use cash money anymore...

 

[SpeareChucker]

I use checks. But only at places that charge extra to use a card, which should not be allowed.

Never seen such a thing.


Examples?

 

[BrokenBarbie]

Many smaller stores charge a 3% surcharge to credit card transactions.

Ostensibly it’s to cover processing fees, which vary by card processor from 1-3%.

Usually posted on a small sign by the register.

A lot of party stores here do it.

 

[Biggs_Darklighter]

I use checks. But only at places that charge extra to use a card, which should not be allowed.

I know some banks have gone to charging for using debit over a certain number of times but not if it's used as credit. Mine doesn't and I won't use a bank that does but it's common.
I haven't seen a retailer that charges extra for a while now but I have no doubt they are still out there.
But dude, checks? Come on. Don't be a douche.

 

[Jada59]

Never seen such a thing.


Examples?

Most stores take checks her but only senior citizens write them. I have noticed signs at some drive through places and fast food places charge a fee for cards. But... This was prior to COVID. I don't think they charge that fee now.

 

[jaF0]

Never seen such a thing.


Examples?

https://www.thebalance.com/credit-card-surcharges-315423


When I pay for my license plates or driver's license, they add $5 if I use a card instead of cash or check.

Many of the smaller stores near me charge a 'swipe fee' of 3-5% if I use a CC or DC instead of cash or a check.

 

[SpeareChucker]

I've never seen such a thing.
I think that most places are happy to pay a small fee
for a guaranteed payoff, which a check is most certainly not.
I cannot even remember the last time I wrote a check. My bills are ePay...




:shrug:

 

[SpeareChucker]

https://www.thebalance.com/credit-card-surcharges-315423


When I pay for my license plates or driver's license, they add $5 if I use a card instead of cash or check.

Many of the smaller stores near me charge a 'swipe fee' of 3-5% if I use a CC or DC instead of cash or a check.

Our DMV only takes cash or check, so I bring cash.
Small town livin' I guess.


Small stores seem to prefer a card, it takes cash to chase bad checks.

 

[jaF0]

I know some banks have gone to charging for using debit over a certain number of times but not if it's used as credit. Mine doesn't and I won't use a bank that does but it's common.

I've seen some that 'force' you to do X number of DC transactions per month to avoid a monthly statement fee.

 

[silver gurl]

Everything here is tap and pay.

 

[SpeareChucker]

Everything here is tap and pay.

OMG


Including you?



I'm sorry - I can't help myself...

 

[BrokenBarbie]

Always get the money up front in that instance.

 

[silver gurl]

OMG


Including you?



I'm sorry - I can't help myself...

I certainly don't take checks.

 

[SpeareChucker]

What's that old saying?

Strip me, whip me, make me write bad checks...

 

[oggbashan]

In the late 18th and early 19th Century, there was a shortage of small value copper coins in the UK. The reason? We were at war with the Thirteen Colonies and France and we needed all the copper we could produce to make copper sheeting for the bottoms of our naval ships.

A whole range of cities, chambers of Trade and companies produced their own tokens to be used instead of coins produced by the Royal Mint. They are a fascinating subject in their own right but they could only be exchanged for 'real' money in quantity at specified locations e.g The Hull Lead Company's pennies could only be exchanged in multiples of 240 = one pound in Hull.

Most people just treated them as if they were real Royal Mint coins but they couldn't be paid into a bank. Larger retailers used to have special wooden trays in which to collect them and some enterprising individuals would offer to buy them at a discount before travelling around the country to redeem them.

They remained in general circulation until the 1850s when sufficent real coins were available.

A similar situation occurred in France in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The Association of French Chambers of Trade produced their own tokens to replace French Francs and Centimes. They remained in circulation until the 1950s when the French Franc denominations changed so that 10 Old Francs becanme 1 New.

 

[silver gurl]

Been here 10 years and not once have I ever seen someone write a cheque at a store.